How's the economy/mood bout it/hope for the future where you live

I considered putting this in Serious Discussion, but I don't think that whether a country is doing well is that contentious a point, and I'd rather have the opinions from the wider demographic in this forum.

Is the economy hitting your area hard? Are people you know getting laid off? Are the people where you live not letting it get them down, or are problems piling up? Do you, your family, friends and neighbours feel that it will go on for much longer? Are you confident that it won't have any permanent effects on your life? Enquiring minds want to know.

Here in Ireland, I've worked in two factories whose operations were scaled back and moved to Poland. Jobs in any career I'm actually qualified for seem to always be reserved for people with no less than four years' industry experience already under their belts; it's an employer's market. The government is cutting back in every area of expenditure and unemployment is obscenely high, as is the number of people who have moved back in with their parents.

Nonetheless, no-one seems PARTICULARLY worried; myself included. Everyone seems to be working under the assumption that this will all be over in a year or two, and have resolved to 'ride it out'. I've gone back to college to get an honours degree (hopefully that'll be worth more than a McJob), and although I'll have to take out a loan to do so, I'm fairly confident that it won't be a problem. My only REAL worry is that I won't be putting away money for a pension until I'm done.

What's REALLY interesting is that for many who saw this recession coming, it's really a great opportunity. On the advice of my father, my brother and his family held off on buying a house for years (with my Dad knowing that the property market HAD to collapse soon at the rate it was going). Now they've got a huge downpayment saved, and prices are still dropping. What's more, I would wager that many couples around the country and maybe the world have done the same, and their bided time seems about to pay off. Which, I suppose, goes to prove the old adage that 'crisis' is just another word for 'opportunity'.

On the other side of the coin, I know that for many, it's not nearly as rosy. My sister-in-law's brother (and his wife) bought a house JUST before the market went belly-up and now they're stuck with ridiculous repayments on a house that's not worth it.

What's it like where you are? I understand that France and Germany have just announced that their economies are out of recession - the whole world seems to be responding to this crisis differently.

Well, I'm in Colorado, which didn't really get hit as hard as other states in the USA. In fact, we're expected to bounce back pretty quickly, so I never was too worried. The most worried I got was when my dad was in danger of losing his job. But now he has another one, so it's no biggie anymore.

Obama is god, he will do god things. BET said so...o_o

Considering I'm still an underclassmen in highschool, I don't particularly care. Quite a few teachers and counselors and my school got laid off, though.

Originally Posted by Furii

Obama is god, he will do god things. BET said so...o_o

Not in my opinion.

Originally Posted by Coss

Considering I'm still an underclassmen in highschool, I don't particularly care. Quite a few teachers and counselors and my school got laid off, though.

You should always care! It could affect your parents, relatives, etc.

Also, my favorite teacher got laid of last year, for a stupid reason. Don't know if it was because of the economy, or just our principal being stupid, but it was a bad choice. He was a great teacher!

Originally Posted by LinkdOOd110

Not in my opinion.

Who could ever question good programming such as, BET? o_o

Originally Posted by Furii

Who could ever question good programming such as, BET? o_o

What is this BET of which you speak?

I live in the United Kingdom. The economic crisis was a blessing for me. My career adviser told me the job market for the course I'm studying is huge and I got endless opportunities. I can choose to work in Britain or work in other foreign countries. I'm very lucky...

I'm not worried at all though I need to study and work very hard.

I live in Connecticut and we kinda are in debt or something and at our 2 PrattWhitney's, I think at least a thousand people are going to get transferred to Georgia or somthing where some work is. But I think the state is trying to help them, hopfully it will work because I wouldn't want my uncle to be in Georgia! But everyone doesn't really talk about if things will get worse or not, everyone is just hoping that they don't get laid off, but my parents thankfully aren't in that postition of not knowing if they are going to be laid off, so that's good. But really all the news people are talking about how they hope things will start to get better.

I live in California, so what do you think? We are one of the places getting hit the worst. Everything is so damn expensive here and jobs are almost nonexistent.
With that being said, I've landed two jobs in the last few months. I guess I'm lucky. Or it just really isn't as bad as they say...
But I am still struggling. And most everyone I know(friends and family) are struggling as well. Many people have been loosing their jobs, like my uncle and a lot of my past teachers. And many of my friends cannot find work.

I am currently paying my own way through college. It is very difficult. But this whole recession really hasn't gotten me down too much. I try not to worry about things. I don't let it ruin my life. I find that hanging out and having fun with friends and family as much as possible helps a lot. They make me laugh, which makes me happy, even though life is wee bit difficult at the moment. I try to stay positive.

Originally Posted by LinkdOOd110

What is this BET of which you speak?

I think he means 'Black Entertainment'. The television channel.

New Orleans bottomed out three years earlier than everywhere else in the U.S. Our economy is better than most places, but not great by any means.

The economy here has always been pretty terrible, so this so-called economic crisis really hasn't had much of an impact.

St. Louis has always been stagnant in growth, and with the cutting back of one of the major Chrysler plants in the area, yeah.

As far as personal finances go. I'm lucky to be paying for this semester with a student loan. Hell, I just got out of the red and I'm hoping sometime in the future to find a different job other than the one I got at Busch and the measly 8 hours a week of work-study at my school.

My city's a joke. We have had major opportunities to become a nice tourist city, but the council always rejects the offers. Now, on some points this is very good, because a year or two ago they wanted to build a resort on our beach, which would restrict our access to the beach, which happens to be one of the few free beaches left in the USA. This is probably the only good time their incompetence paid off in the end.

Anyways, not much has happened here since we were never really going anywhere. We have some of the cheapest housing, food, etc al in Texas, so it ain't too bad.

Originally Posted by Discussion

My city's a joke. We have had major opportunities to become a nice tourist city, but the council always rejects the offers. Now, on some points this is very good, because a year or two ago they wanted to build a resort on our beach, which would restrict our access to the beach, which happens to be one of the few free beaches left in the USA. This is probably the only good time their incompetence paid off in the end.

Anyways, not much has happened here since we were never really going anywhere. We have some of the cheapest housing, food, etc al in Texas, so it ain't too bad.

Houston isn't a ****hole?

Nope. No one's talking about it. No layoffs or anything of the sort.

There's a shortage of jobs, but it's been that way for years, now.

I live in a small town in Manitoba, Canada by the way.

I live in Corpus Christi, not Houston

Kansas City sounds similar to Corpus Christi.
Except our recent mayor has been more of the problem
Having an idealist in office only works if he has the tact to pull it off.
It also helps if he's actually good at being a polititian.
His recent antics were in the NYtimes not too long ago.

No jobs really in KC right now except the odd ones, like driving an armored vehicle or working at the laundromat. The suburbs in the metro area are rife with jobs.
The kids w/ the monayz come and go from school so places are always rehiring around this time of the year.