This in turn causes local governments to raise taxes as their revenue drops. Chase bank is about to loan money to a huge transit system (I think it is in
Austin Texas?) that has run out of money.

Ironic how the credit card companies suction off spending money, then ride in to save the day when the people they are robbing curtail their traveling and purchases.

http://www.Daily-Protest.com

American Express did even better, lowering the rate to zero for six months, then charging a 9% rate after that, amortizing the amount due over three years.

I’m not surprised by the delinquency numbers. The “green shoots” are a statistical mirage. The fact is a lot of people who run small business are undercapitalized and use credit cards to stay afloat. I was a business reporter during the recession of the early 80s. My hunch is given the easy credit of the
past few years, there are a lot more small businesses run on personal credit cards now compared to then. The impact of those delinquencies will not only affect unemployment in the coming months but will likely have a more lasting effect on small businesses ability to obtain the credit they need to participate in a rebound. In the future we can be fairly certain that credit card won’t be as loose with granting credit as they have been in the past. Translation: higher unemployment could persist longer than now expected.

This recession is lasting a very long time, with no real end in sight.

It’s a good thing your name is “Patience!” I’m afraid that before it’s all over and there is some genuine “hope” instead of transitory euphoria induced by phony “hopium,” we are all going to need another biblical virtue: longsuffering.

I have a sicker feeling about the economy than I did last fall. It seems nothing is truly turning around, just a slight drop in recent new jobless claims that will likely be revised. Any business articles I’ve read have said the bank stress tests were basically a whitewash. I’m growing more and more wary of company reports — I fear a lot of businesses may be fudging numbers just to keep afloat a while longer.

Has anyone who isn’t a political patron of the POTUS gotten much benefit from the so-called stimulus yet?

This recession is lasting a very long time, with no real end in sight. I’m starting to worry that we haven’t even come close to seeing the worst.

Something is awry, my comments have been frequently going into spam hell also. They are working on it trying to figure out what is going on.

Well, wodiej, I am going to try a new tactic. I long ago concluded that the ASM (Almighty Spam Filter) had achieved self awareness akin to HAL in 2001 (or, as Wolfram Alfa certainly will in the near future), and so from now on I am going to preface every comment with a brief supplicant prayer:

“O Almighty Spam Filter, I know that Thou art great, and I, thy humble servant oowawa, am like unto a meaningless insect. Please vouchsafe that this humble communication be granted safe passage through the vast ether of cyberspace and reach safely its intended destination. Amen.

Oh yes, and may none of my loans fall into delinquency and default. Amen, again.”

The end result will be that people will get fed up with it and vote agaist it despite any good parts.