International Recession.

[Mykidsmom]

Do you actually believe the world is going thro a recession? or do you think the powers that be jumped on the band wagon?? i know companies here in toronto who laid people off and downsized...did not do this because of financial difficulties..but because they saw a way to them to get rid of people...downsize on permanent employees and cut back on benefit packets..

real estate here wasnt much affected either?

[Curious Girl]

Do you actually believe the world is going thro a recession? or do you think the powers that be jumped on the band wagon?? i know companies here in toronto who laid people off and downsized...did not do this because of financial difficulties..but because they saw a way to them to get rid of people...downsize on permanent employees and cut back on benefit packets..

real estate here wasnt much affected either?

You know, real estate was not really effected too much here either....just that it was tough to sell it for awhile, and not much better now. Still, fewer tax revenues, so we cut back.

[Mykidsmom]

well i sorta wondered if it was just hitting hard in places like ireland..because of mismanagement by the governments??? we here in canada seem to have avoided the worst...the banks actually made a profit

[boxman]

Same here we didn't have a recession at all. Our banks are raking it in the barstewards and we've just had an official interest rate hike because they're afraid the economy will overheat! I really wonder about all this.

[Mykidsmom]

well i was at the bank this week...and i had a terrible time walking out without increases visas, a huge fecking line of credit..they want to give money away believe me...

but the companies seem to be slower to realize we arent in a slump....many are still doing reorgs...and layoffs...jumping on the bandwagon i think..theres no real need for it..

[Rashers]

Now don't all jump on me together.

Last night I was having this very discussion with two visitors, one on a holiday from the USA.

We got to talking about the 'world wide recession' and I must say that I truly haven't felt any of it personally.

I remember a time when kids went barefoot in the streets (back in the early 50s). I saw my mother open an empty press. My father 'borrowing' from the gas meter.

I'm not putting on the poor mouth here -- I had a very happy childhood and teen years. And no I don't remember ever actually going barefoot nor hungry myself.

But neither am I seeing any of that around me thank god.

So is it a recession... a real one that affects the ordinary Joe and Jane Soap and their kids?

[newtry]

there were a lot of companies who used the excuse of recession to clean shop, but there were many more who went under leaving hardship in their wake. my company went under recently and it's tough to find work especially when you are that bit older. the banks in canada did not get hit due to a good banking system, but a lot of their customers did.

[Mykidsmom]

Yes....it was to my mind too a completely fabricated recession we had...or are having here..and its sad to see so many lose their jobs....The GM situation particularly impacted the area i live in....Friends who depend on GM for their living got a real run around this past couple of years and the stress of long layoffs took a huge toil...

I remember the same things you do Rashers....and so its very difficult to me to relate to friends who complain, the recession impacted their ability to go on expensive holidays and trade in their car every 2 years. A friend of mine is down in the dumps cos of thousands of dollars he lost on the stock market...and i was feeling really empathetic, until i realized he still has his original investment plus a lot more...

Im concerned though for those in Ireland cos what they seem to be going thro to me isnt just a recession...but the fall out of bad management by the powers that be during the boom??? whats your opinion..

[Red Biddy]

Same as Rashers and MKM. But the wan...s are still gettint their huge bonuses and pensions. And comapnies are using it to lay sack workers and make staff work harder. Happened to me. Constructive dismissal.

Agency workers are being used as they only earn the minimum wage and are not entitled to paid holidays or sick pay. so bosses earn shedloads of cash.

I am incandesent with rage

[Curious Girl]

Now don't all jump on me together.

Last night I was having this very discussion with two visitors, one on a holiday from the USA.

We got to talking about the 'world wide recession' and I must say that I truly haven't felt any of it personally.

I remember a time when kids went barefoot in the streets (back in the early 50s). I saw my mother open an empty press. My father 'borrowing' from the gas meter.

I'm not putting on the poor mouth here -- I had a very happy childhood and teen years. And no I don't remember ever actually going barefoot nor hungry myself.

But neither am I seeing any of that around me thank god.

So is it a recession... a real one that affects the ordinary Joe and Jane Soap and their kids?

Your right, Rashers. My dad was born 1929 & grew up in the depression. Things were way way worse then. He grew up where I am, Albuquerque, and for alot of folks, it was a 3rd world country here. Yeah, he'd see the little ones w/o shoes & food, and there wasn't social welfare here. What got this place outta that was WW2 and they build the airfare base, and then every thing changed. Now days, you might be affected badly by this recession....but not like you woulda been in the depression & for some time after that.

I'm not effected, but won't see a pay raise for two years starting last July....I can also see the state is way short revenue due to loss of taxes in the recession, so they are not kidding they can't give us a raise.

[Rashers]

There's a line from the poem Dublin by Louis McNiece where he's describing what he sees in Dublin: "And the bare bones of a fanlight over a hungry door."

Thank god thing haven't reached that stage in the current recession, and I very much doubt it will.

[Putz]

I think there is a new almost invisible poverty in Ireland now. There are young couples sitting in their negative equity homes, cars outside, maybe still with jobs and they're just about hanging on. They're not going around barefoot but they're up to their eyeballs in it.

There's middle aged people with teenagers and elderly parents to look after and maybe even grandchildren and they're stretched to the limit.

There's people running small companies and businesses scrambling to get some work and not sleeping with worry.

Few years like this and we'll be barefoot soon enough.

[Rashers]

I think there is a new almost invisible poverty in Ireland now. There are young couples sitting in their negative equity homes, cars outside, maybe still with jobs and they're just about hanging on. They're not going around barefoot but they're up to their eyeballs in it.

There's middle aged people with teenagers and elderly parents to look after and maybe even grandchildren and they're stretched to the limit.

There's people running small companies and businesses scrambling to get some work and not sleeping with worry.

Few years like this and we'll be barefoot soon enough.

Everything you say is true Putz. But I hope what you say in your last sentence doesn't come to pass.

I'm ever the optimist.

[Red Biddy]

I hate the phrase negative equity - I never bought a home to gain money - we had a home for 17 years and sold it to move to another home. We bought our house to live in. Not as an assett or an investment. We just wanted and do want a home.

My home is not worth as much as it weas a few years ago. So what? We stayed within our budget. Sorry for preaching

[Rashers]

I hate the phrase negative equity - I never bought a home to gain money - we had a home for 17 years and sold it to move to another home. We bought our house to live in. Not as an assett or an investment. We just wanted and do want a home.

My home is not worth as much as it weas a few years ago. So what? We stayed within our budget. Sorry for preaching

Oh I'm glad you said that Red. I hear so many talking about their homes as investments.

My home is not just bricks and mortar.... it's where I can be happy with my family. I don't care if the bricks are worth a thousand or a million.... it's home.