Over the past two years, workers across the country have become all too acquainted with the concept of "settling." But, surprisingly enough, many employers have been less than thrilled to have PhD candidates applying to management positions and former CFOs managing small nonprofits. 

It turns out, there's some science behind this overqualification-phobia. As the Times put it this weekend,

"conventional wisdom warns against hiring overqualified candidates [because they] often find themselves chafing at their new roles."

Fair enough. But it seems that, for some, "settling" has been working out just fine. The New York Times profiled several employees who have taken pay- and responsibility-cuts in the recession. Yet instead of "chafing" these workers are excelling in their new roles, going above and beyond the call of duty, and becoming huge assets to their respective employers.

Of course, it may be that they're not chafing because they've been frightened into silence by the prospect of bankruptcy. They may be excelling because they are terrified that their current employer will suffer a setback and lay them off. They may be going above and beyond because, well, you get the point.

Congratulations, capitalism, you've won again. Workers of the world, don't unite; just settle.

Heroes of the Recession IV: Bizarrely Specialized Small Kitchen Appliances

A bad economy may keep diners in their own kitchens, but it can't make em cook.
The New York Times reported last week that

"in the $3.8 billion category called small kitchen electrics, sales were up almost 9 percent from 2008 to 2009...meanwhile, sales of housewares — that includes knives, pots and pans — were down 11.5 percent."

In case you missed that, I'll repeat - THREE POINT EIGHT BILLION DOLLAR industry.

So of course this month's Heroes of the Recession are the people who spend - what was it again? - oh yeah, 3.8 BILLION DOLLARS - on microwaves with a "smart cookie" button and toasters with bumps for pizza or the ability to poach eggs as they brown bread.


Aaaand....check out this transparent toaster.

Homage to the Househusband

Last week the Times' David Brooks reiterated the man problem discussed by Reihan Salam and others last year. The problem is this: men have been hit hardest during this recession because for years now they have acquired less education, training, and skills than their female counterparts, and have focused on industries with declining employment opportunities.

Brooks noted that we are about to reach a historical marker wherein, for the first time in history, there will be more women in the work force than men.

Enter the case for the househusband. In a weekly "Conversation," Collins and Brooks discuss and debate the issues of the week. Last week, Collins held that men (especially of the unemployed persuasion) should woman up and spend some time at home with the kids. Brooks argued that evolutionary psychology dictates that women are "just more nurturing."

This article in New Statesman took a look at the rise of the househusband back in December. Although it is a British publication and reflects a culture across-the-seas, the article asks questions that are present in the U.S. cultural consciousness as well - just with cuter spelling and vocab: for instance, "does she who earns the pay cheque call the shots? Should he who changes nappies get custody of the children after a divorce?" Will fathers who have enjoyed raising the kiddies be reluctant to return full-time to work? And working moms to diaper duty?

The reorganization of family responsibilities that has arisen from the economic slump may certainly become a lasting trend. To be certain, the househusband, at least to some extent, is here to stay!

"Frugal Fatigue" Among the Upper Class

By now you've heard that some of the most powerful banks on Wall St. posted record profits in 2009. Impressive! And those banks will be rewarding their executives with big fat bonuses as per usual. But of course! Well noo, no of course these weren't the same banks that received billions in federal assistance in order to prevent bankruptcy! - wait, they were?

Well surely we can all be glad that these long-suffering companies are back on their feet, as healthy banks mean healthy loans for the rest of us who are just tryin' to live the American Dream. After all, these banks were granted that bailout on the assumption that the influx of cash would get credit flowing again.

What's that? The banks have cut back on the money they're lending?

How strange!

The fact is, while most U.S. Americans wait patiently for an economic recovery, the "other America" is tired of playing frugal fannie. They piously reined in their spending this past year, largely out of fear of being judged for spending in an era of widespread economic uncertainty. Perhaps they feared they would become the targets of the same suspicion and criticism they direct toward families on welfare who dare to buy their kids new clothes. After all, the cash funding that new Bentley came from what essentially amounts to corporate welfare.

Well, after months of chaste frugality, the Wall St. crowds are and ready to get to spending their "hard-earned" million dollar bonuses. High on the it-list are vacation homes, art, and jewelry. But don't worry, they won't be conspicuous about it.

Recession Resolutions

The country didn't abandon political humor or become faithful church-goers after 9/11; we didn't maintain the sense of civic duty that brought 61% of voters to the polls for the 2008 presidential election (fewer than 30% voted in the NYC mayoral election); 20% of U.S. Americans still smoke despite the medical certainty that they're inviting cancer; and your uncle/aunt/ grandfather/ grandmother never did lose the weight after that heart attack.

We are what one could call a ... resilient people. Others would say stubborn. So what makes us think that the recession is going to create a long-term change in the way that we spend money?













In a New York Times article this weekend, economics professor Carmen Reinhard was quoted saying that even during the postwar years, which were defined by rationing and shortages, the savings don't last; "you get an increase in savings or a decline in debt for one or two years, and then it reverts back.”

So while pattern suggests that our cultural obsession with spending won't change drastically, there is an element of cold, hard truth that can change patterns whether the culture changes or not: for years after this recession, many people, even if willing, will be unable to borrow, due to a collapse in personal credit.