Harrison Bergeron

The Score So Far

It's Complicated

How's Business

It seems that the score so far is:
. Recovery 7 votes, 14%;
. Complicated 19 votes, 37%;
. Rut 25 votes, 49%.

Regarding the "recovery" voters:
. One ackowledges having taken a pay cut.
. One acknowledges living partly off savings.
. One is training less people to teach English in China. (Maybe the Chinese don't think English is all that important anymore)?

You three people may be optomisitic and that is good. But I think the first two are more accurately in the "rut" camp and the third in the "complicated" camp, which would make the score: Recovery 8%, Complicated 39%, Rut 53%.

Note also, that two of the "Complicated" voters say that they work in the financial services industry and are aware that large parts of the general population are not sharing in the recovery.

My understanding is that the characters down in Washington DC have borrowed thousands of thousands of millions of dollars, (how much is that anyway ?); from us, our children and our grandchildren to give to that industry. So of course that industry is doing well -- for now.

I would say that large parts of the population are not just being excluded from participation in the recovery, but have actually been ejected from the total social-economic structure. For example, if a few smart people in Silicon Valley invent some i-gadget -- well that's great for them. But if they build it in China or Singapore, then what are the rest of us dopes going to do to make a living?

NJ

Mia Hewitt

Rut

How's Business

Two years in, and it feels like it only gets worse. My husband's architectural practice is moribund at best and every month we question how we'll get by. I'm one of the vilified state workers of NJ, and you know how that story goes. The only bright spot is that we have our health and each other, and we have learned to make due with less. A simpler life is not nothing, and I am grateful for the bounties and the help we have received, but it would be nice not to have to preface EVERY conversation with "when we get some money," and to not have to worry as much as we do.

19 mount airy road, bernardsville, nj

Chris Cosentino

small potatoes

Rut

How's Business

Business stinks. All of the gov't efforts address huge companies and poor people and leave the small businesses feeling the squeeze from both ends. I'm a product design consultant and nobody is thinking of designing new products, they are all trying to sell existing designs and stock. I don't do construction so am cut out from 'shovel ready' stimulus funding. I've shifted from doing engineering design to fabrication (much less profit) but now even the fabrication work is fading. The banks (mine is JP Morgan Chase) have tens of billions from the gov't that has no requirement for small business lending so they invest the gov't money to make more profit and leave us small guys hanging. How is a small guy supposed to keep his head above water, let alone prosper, these days?

812 Jersey Ave. 07310

Steve Holder

Self Employed

It's Complicated

How's Business

I fix computers and people need computers no matter what. My customers would rather fix a broken computer than spend the money to buy new. It's still a throw away society but perhaps we are not throwing away so quickly with high ticket items.

Ridgewood, NJ

abby clough

owner

Recovery

How's Business

Watermill, NY
landscape design firm-

I am hiring a full time employee. When I advertised for the job position, I received unbelievable resumes, and interviewed some wonderful people. I wish I could hire five of them. Its the best time to hire ever!

Basically the work is coming in and I can't handle
it all. So I guess I am telling you there's some hope.

watermill, ny

C. Stoffo Jr.

Manufacturing

Rut

How's Business

My business is mechanical systems design for process plants. Over the past thirty-five years, during times that the general economy was slow, my work was steady, because I was building or upgrading plants to make things to sell in a year or so. So I could reasonably believe that everyone else would be okay in a year or so.

The past two years have been very slow for me. In 2010 I've done about one-quarter of the business that I usually do. This was by far the worst year I've ever had. Further, I do not have any positive signs for the foreseeable future. Therefore, I do not see the larger economy turning around in the foreseeable future.

We are doing nothing to make things turn for the better. In terms of simple arithmetic -- we must sell more to others than we buy from them. But we do not have much to sell because we do not make much here anymore. We have chased industry out of the country by the means of worker safety laws, environmental protection laws, and an elitist attitude that looks down upon manual labor -- even if that manual labor is skilled craft work.

As to the safety and environmental laws -- I support them. But we buy most of our manufactured goods from China where the government does not care about its people's or the earth's health.

As to the elitist attitude of worship-of-credentials and corresponding disdain-for-labor, I ask you: if all of the lawyers in the country took a month off, and all of the plumbers took a day off, who would be missed more?

Hackensack, NJ

Diedrich Knickerbocker

8th Street Blues

Rut

How's Business

Eighth Street in the Village, form 6th Avenue to Broadway, is in dismal straits. It used to be thriving and lively. Indeed, an article in New York Magazine about 15 years ago addressed the raucous feel of the street. Now it is a ghost town. More than 50% of the storefronts are empty and the street is desolate.

3 East 8th Street, NY Ny 10003

Paula Frazier

paula@paularestaurant.com

Rut

How's Business

We here in Weehawken are seeing a small business exodus! I am the owner of a restaurant that has been here for nearly a decade, but watching 4 business on my block close in the past few months makes me very nervous! Myself, my employees and my loyal guests are all very scared that our town is moving out, never to return, and we will have to be next to go!

3706 Park Avenue, Weehawken, NJ 07086

Amy Hamlin

"Keep Calm and Carry On"

It's Complicated

How's Business

This story comes from my mother, who is a perennial recipient of mail-order catalogues. This holiday season she has noticed a proliferation of goods embossed with a version of the 1939 poster issued by the British Government as Hitler's Luftwaffe geared up for attacks on the U.K.. The slogan: "Keep Calm and Carry On" was designed to assuage the fears of an understandably nervous public. That it would re-appear today is not surprising given The Great Recession. But the message of uplift, to me anyway, is also pernicious because it asks us to part with our money (to purchase the totebag or handtowel - see .jpg) in spite of a real need for fiscal responsibility.

Sandra

Astoria semi-recovery

It's Complicated

How's Business

I live off Steinway St. in Astoria, a street known for shopping, and mostly clothing stores. In the last couple of years, independent stores have been closing, leaving mostly chain stores and a lot of empty storefronts. In the last few months, I've noticed the storefronts are reopening--but the new shops are all food stores (bakeries, smoothie places, even an organic grocery), which is odd for Steinway. My guess is that people are still buying necessities like food but not spending on more discretionary items.

Steinway Street, Astoria, Queens, NY

Josy Erne

Rut

How's Business

I own a small PR firm, and business is FAR worse than last year. Not only have some clients gone out of business, but potential clients are offering fees that we turned down as untenably low 12-15 years ago! It's bleak.

Manhattan, NY

Jennifer Zarcone

The Turkey Cookie Index

Recovery

How's Business

My cousins own a restaurant/bakery in Boerum Hill in Brooklyn. They have had a really rough year or two. They sell a lot of pies, etc, for Thanksgiving and she always makes beautifully decorated cookies that look like turkeys. Last year, she had to give them all away - people will buy a pie, but wouldn't waste money on something like a $4.50 cookie that is just an extra. This year, she sold more than half of the turkey cookies. I call it the Turkey Cookie Index. An economic indicator that people are more willing and able to buy a little something extra that they don't really need this year.

364 Atlantic Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11217

Michael Summerfield

No Fundamental Fiscal Change

Rut

How's Business

Until the Obama administration recognizes that the Fed has done all it can with monetary policy and that initiatives in fiscal policy are now required, we are in a rut. That doesn't mean we need to extend tax cuts for the rich or provide more additonal stimulus to for public works! It means we need to provide incentives for new business formation, research and development and retrain housing and construction workers in skills in other fields [the housing market will take a long time to recover]. The government needs to reduce military spending [see Cato Institute study], commit to energy independence at all costs and provide real tort reform to lower healthcare costs. Abandon the Federal pension program and move to 401k contributions, drop Congress’ health care and pension plans so they are on par with the rest of America. To help the consumer dig out of the hole, bring back tax deductions for credit card debt [along with a sunset clause] since financial firms won’t provide a break for their 29.9% rates though they are paying only 0.25% funding cost and give a tax break to those who cannot refinance their mortgages due to credit issues. We’ve bailed out Wall Street – but how about us consumers? Until we are healthy, this economy is going nowhere and we have been all but ignored!

115 Continental Rd., Cornwall, NY 12518