Alan Greenspan Declares "Worst Economic Crisis" He's Seen

CitizenSugar — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 10:00:51 -0700

How's your piggy bank? That piggy's a little lean according to crystal ball-owning, former Reserve Chair, Alan Greenspan. He made an appearance on This Week with George Stephanopoulos yesterday, and forgot to bring his sunshine and puppies. He said that the current economic climate is “by far” the worst one he has ever seen. And if that wasn’t worrying enough, he added: “There’s no question that this is not resolved and it still has a way to go.”

This view does contradict an earlier statement when asked what the chances of a recession would be, the then starry-eyed optimist answered, “... I think it is less than 50 percent.” He has since changed that opinion noting on his latest appearance “...let’s recognize that this is a once-in-a-half-century, probably once-in-a-century type of event.” Probably most worrisome about that comment is that Mr. Greenspan was alive during the Great Depression. Oh.

To see Greenspan's predictions for the future, read more.

As for specifics regarding the banking industry, the Former Reserve Chair also believes that the future will see more financial institutions fail, although could not comment on the latest victim, Lehman Brothers. Overall he did seem that the situation did mirror a natural selection process when remarking on the fate of some institutions over others: “...indeed we shouldn’t try to protect every single institution. The ordinary course of financial change has winners and losers.” Let's keep our fingers crossed for more winners.

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Men's Underwear Index Reflects State of Economy

TresSugar — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 13:00:00 -0700

Want to know the state of the economy? Look in your boyfriend's underwear drawer: therein lies a major clue. If it sounds crazy to you, don't worry, it sounds a little batty to me, too. But economists say that the MUI (Men's Underwear Index) is significant. And even Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan believes this theory.

According to economists, during tough financial times, men will slow down their purchase of underwear. “It's like trying to drive your car an extra 10,000 miles,” says Marshal Cohen. Men's underwear purchases are usually stable because they’re a necessity, so when there's a dip in buying (or when you notice his tighty whiteys have become saggy raggies), this means that he's skimping, even on necessities.

When the recession took hold, research firm Mintel saw the growth in men’s underwear slow down; they expect sales to fall 2.3 percent this year. They predict that next year, however, sales will fall only by .5 percent. Target spokeswoman Jana O'Leary agrees that things are looking up, and that over the past two months even “multipair packs are moving.” Hooray!

This fascinates me for a couple reasons. First of all, according to Mintel, men buy an average of 3.4 pairs of underwear a year. (Say what?! I bet women buy more pairs than that in a month!) But mostly, I think it's an intriguing clue into the difference in men and women's psychological ways of handling the recession. Women, we're told, spend more on lipstick during a recession. Men? They just let their underwear fade and get saggy.

So what does it mean that during a recession, some women step up the unnecessary purchases while men step down the necessary ones! What's your theory?