Personal Income Fell For New Yorkers

From The Economic Times: 

The recession put a 3.1 per cent dent in the personal incomes of New York state residents, who endured their first full-year decline in more than 70 years, according to a report released on Tuesday. Paychecks or net earnings tumbled 5.4 per cent, while dividends, interest and rent slid 8.4 per cent, to a grand total of nearly $908 billion, the state comptroller's report said.

Not only did New Yorkers' personal incomes fall "almost twice" as much as they did in the nation as a whole, but they have yet to recover to pre-recession levels, Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said. The drop occurred even though the job-destroying recession was milder in New York than in the rest of the country. One reason for the hit to New Yorker's pocketbooks is Wall Street's dominance among the state's employers; pay and job security are often highly volatile in the securities industry.

Scammer Flips Free Kitties For Profit

The next time you're worried about making rent, do try to resist the temptation to turn to Craigslist in search of something furry to sell. Because you might get caught.

Recently a Park Slope battle was born when one woman found out that the cats she'd given away were being sold by a serial "cat flipper."

The best part is the "flipper"s response to being confronted:
 

"I just decide to find them homes...You still gave them away to me for free, no contract, once in my      hand their [sic] initially mines. That means if I wanted to give them to my nieces, stranger walking the street, dad, or grandmother thats initially on me. ... I'm not gonna sit here going back and fourth with you, then get excited and have an asthma attack."

...Fair enough?

Outsourcing The Government?

Three months ago, the city of Maywood, California was headed towards bankruptcy. The city's Police Department alone was costing the town more than twice its total annual budget. Now, the town budget has been reduced by half and residents are ... thrilled?

That's because these days the parks are greener, civic space is better used, City Hall is running more smoothly, and violence has decreased. (Common Dreams) All of this (ostensibly) because in June of this year, the Maywood city council decided to contract out every one of the city's public services. The local police department was taken over by members of the LA County Sheriff's Department, the neighboring city of Bell was hired to perform services such as enforcing parking tickets, and so on.

Hearing of these plans, residents were initially quite concerned. As one resident told the New York Times, "Senior citizens were afraid they would be assaulted as they walked down the street. Parents worried the parks would be shut and their children would have nowhere to safely play. Landlords said their tenants had begun suggesting that without city-run services they would no longer feel obliged to pay rent."

Today, approval is high. However, around the country the experiment still inspires controversy: is Maywood's example one of progressive ingenuity, or a betrayal of city employees and the tradition of civic involvement?

Bed-Stuy Booming during the Bust

During the past decade of rising rents and gentrification, Bed-Stuy has been all but unaffected by the various results of a growing economy. But in this recession, as its neighbors to the south, east, and west are slumping along, Bed-Stuy has kick-started its own mini-economy.

The New York Times reported last week on a bunch of new spots opening up in the Do-The-Right-Thing nabe, like a wine bar called Therapy, a flower shop called Creative Blossoms, and Saraghina, a trattoria which opened in June to rave reviews.

So, why is the block blowing up now, after all this time?

For one, many of the residents of Bed-Stuy work in government sectors like education and health care, meaning that their salaries haven't plunged in the crisis as have those of the bankers and corporate execs living in other neighborhoods. Instead, their spending power remains relatively stable.

Also, entrepreneurs are attracted to the cheap rent in the neighborhood. Low overhead is always an appeal, but even more so in a time when loans are hard to get.

What's best, these new businesses are opening to a hungry audience. For years Bed-Stuy residents have been spending all of their hard-earned dough in Manhattan and more upscale Brooklyn neighborhoods (more than $30 million according to a 2008 study done by the market research firm LISC MetroEdge). So they are understandably eager for both the privilege of stimulating their own community's economy and the convenience of traveling only around the block for their cocktails or pizza. (Oh, and "put some extra mozzarella on that motherfucker and shit. ")

Charged With Guilt

An entire generation of kids raised during the depression grew up with modest spending habits and their materialistic impulses seriously in check. Expectations were low, gratitude and humility expected. As they reached adulthood, stability was the assumed aspiration, and living within limited means was the status quo.

Then that all changed.

For the baby-boomers who came to dominate the U.S. social sphere a generation later, raised in the post WWI economic boom, the status quo evolved to "financial security" and "comfort," which were, arguably, simply euphemisms for wealth.

The consumer culture of these different generations evolved to fit the economic context of each. But spending patterns aren't all about practicality. Emotion and subjectivity find their way in; there's guilt, shame, pride, and euphoria; cultural mores are injected into every thought and behavioral pattern around consumerism.

According to Sarah Kershaw of NY Times Magazine, 95% of neuroscientists and behaviorists say that our decision to purchase or not to purchase is borne of a complex biochemical phenomenon that occurs deep within our subconscious.

Unless eclipsed by a major source of anxiety, big purchases tend to release dopamine, which triggers feelings of euphoria and chases away guilt and regret. But in a recent study done by David Lewis of Mindlab International, even upper-class consumers, who have held on to their wealth - and purchasing power- in the recession, experienced anxiety and hesitation in response to luxury goods. Before the recession those same high-end items elicited only positive responses-excitement, arousal, and raised attention levels. Instead, they now experience "disgust," according to the study, and consider the consumption of these high-end items irresponsible and even immoral given the state of the economy.

Professor Kit Yarrow's research that this mentality will not fade with economic revitalization. The results of his post-recession consumer surveys suggest that this newfound moral doubt over expensive taste is here to stay. Other researchers believe that this group-think will evolve like any other; that brain patterns are cyclical and soon dopamine will rule again.

Heroes of the Recession 2: Men Who Wear Clean Undies

In his 2007 book The Age of Turbulence, Alan Greenspan proposed that the sales figures of none other but men's underwear may serve as a particularly insightful economic indicator.

He says that manties are historically among the most steadily consumed products out there. Their sales figures are almost always a flat line: underwear is nothing more or less than a necessity for men; they buy em when they need em, and generally they their girlfriends and wives do replace their undies when they've gotten old and ratty.

So usually, since undies don't represent a major expense nor a frequent purchase, they aren't among the items cut from the family budget when money gets a little tight. But as Greenspan's theory has it, in times of true hardship, men do start to skimp on their skivvies, making do with dingy pairs so that they can afford, say, toilet paper.

So, here's the good news: Hanes brands just reported second quarter 2009 sales at a decline of 4%. If you think this figure seems as gray as those ratty undies you're wearing, think again. This is actually a significant improvement, as sales declined by 13% in the first quarter. Manty sales are up, people!

So let's give it up for those men who care about what's on the inside - or at least, what's underneath. May their increasing manty purchases lift us from recession and deliver us from depressing laundry days!