Posts Tagged ‘global financial crisis’

Recession Sends Retirees Back to the Job Market

Monday, October 5th, 2009

Senior citizens are heading back to the workforce, thanks to the worst recession in seven decades and the global financial crisis.  According to a private study by Experience Works, 46 percent of the 2,000 low-income people 55 years and older surveyed had to work to avoid homelessness.  Approximately half had been looking for work for more than one year.oapscomputerdm1710_468x316

Although the study found that many respondents had not planned to work beyond their 60th birthday, many had to revise their plans after being laid off or following the death of a spouse.  More than one-third of the respondents had already retired.  Ninety percent of the responders older than 75 planned to stay in the job market for at least five additional years.

Department of Labor statistics from August indicate that there were 2 million unemployed workers older than 65, a 69 percent increase from the previous year.  The number of unemployed workers aged 75 and older grew by one third during the same timeframe.

“These people are at an age where they understandably thought their job-searching years were behind them,” said Cynthia Metzler, president and CEO of Experience Works.  “But here they are, many in their 60s, 70s and beyond, desperate to find work so they can keep a roof over their head and food on the table.  This study underscores the need to create policies that remove barriers to employment for older workers and provide additional programs and services specifically aimed at helping older people re-enter the work force or remain working.”

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One Year After Financial Meltdown, Obama Counsels Caution

Monday, September 21st, 2009

On the first anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the onset of the global financial crisis,  President Barack Obama used a Wall Street speech to call for stringent new regulation of United States markets.  After Lehman’s collapse, the American government infused billions of dollars into the financial system and took major stakes in Wall Street’s most famous names.  Although this action stabilized the system, it could not forestall a shrinking economy or the highest unemployment rate in 26 years.lehmanbros

“We can be confident that the storms of the past two years are beginning to break,” he said.  As the economy begins a “return to normalcy,” Obama said, “normalcy cannot lead to complacency.”

Lobbyists, lawmakers and even regulators so far have opposed proposals to more closely monitor the financial system. The five biggest banks – Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and Bank of America – posted second-quarter 2009 profits totaling $13 billion.  That is more than twice their profits in the second quarter of 2008 and nearly two-thirds as much as the $20.7 billion they earned in the same timeframe two years ago – a time when the economy was considered strong.

Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, is the point man for formulating new rules.  President Obama wants stricter capital requirements for banks to prevent them from purchasing exotic financial products without keeping adequate cash on hand.  It was precisely this type of behavior that caused last year’s financial crisis.

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Throwing a BRIC at the Economy

Monday, December 8th, 2008

Wonder where real estate titan Sam Zell’s investment dollars are going during these recessionary times?  Despite the global financial crisis, Zell is investing in countries like Brazil, Egypt, Mexico and China – all of which he says have a shortage of affordable housing and lack infrastructure. Zell, the chairman of Chicago-based Equity Group Investments, LLC, likes Brazil for its large pool of skilled professionals, self sufficiency and unlimited resources.  As recently as last April, Brazil’s largest mall owner reported that retail sales grow 10 percent every year.  “If you look at all of the facts, I don’t think there is a better environment in all the world than Brazil,” according to Zell, who thinks the South American nation could overtake China in economic strength within 30 years.  In Brazil and Mexico, the funding to develop housing has not been affected by the credit crunch because their financial markets are well capitalized.  Conditions are similar in Egypt, where a serious housing shortage exists, as well as in China where Zell is profiting from his investment in affordable residences.

Zell’s comments draw attention to the BRIC countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China – which continue to give hope to observers worldwide with growth rates still in strong single digits and enormous populations who have gained tremendous buying power in the last decade.

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