JohnsBlog (articles, news, thoughts, advice)

Happy New Year to all!  2008 was certainly a tumultuous year for so many reasons, and so much happened in a short 365 days.  We saw the election of the first ever African American POTUS, the complete bursting of the real estate bubble, and the fallout which is now seen in sky high unemployment rates, lackluster consumer confidence, and perhaps the most unlikely event of all.....a world championship for a Philadelphia sports team.

While the news was doom and gloom for many, and a great deal of money was lost all over the world, things are sure to rebound in 09 (cause they cant get much worse, right?).  I hope everyone got to celebrate with loved ones, and pop some champagne with a smile on their face, because the holiday season tends to put everything in perspective and make you realize whats truly important...friends, family, and spending time and enjoying their company.

Here's to a great, prosperous, and happy 2009!  Cheers!

If this were a report card, the economy would get a big, fat F w/the unemployment rate being the latest reason.

With the addition of more than 520,000 job losses reported in December, 2008 turned out to be the worst year for job losses since 1945 (which was artificially high due to factory worker job losses due to the end of World War 2), with losses amounting to 2.589 million jobs.  Recent losses by Wal-Mart, Macys, and Alcoa will likely fuel the fire over the next several months as more losses are expected to take place.

With Obama coming into office, he inherits an unemployment rate of 7.2%, the highest since 7.3%, immediately before the inaugration of Bill Clinton.  Hopefully he can do something similar to Clinton.  During Mr. Bill "I did not have sexual relations with that woman" Clinton's presidency, more than 22 million jobs were created, compared w/about 3 million in George "Ya cant send mexed missages" Bush's time in office. 

With 2008 an utter failure, 2009 is off to a dismal start in the eyes of speculators.  There are historical events about the take place (again) with a supposed $795billion stimulus plan in the works and being vehemently pushed by its developers as a necessary step to recovery.  Although this time should be viewed historically as an utter catastrophe, I think it will be very, very interesting to see how what's broken will be fixed.  A ton of money will be lost, but certainly in the recovery a ton will be made, and the sincere hope of everyone is that we come out of this stronger than ever before, and for once maybe, just maybe, learn from the mistakes.