The Third Depression?

We're hearing more people suggest that we're in a depression, not a recession, the latest being Paul Krugman.

Whether or not it truly is a depression, we do know that times are changing. Many people have been out of work for a couple of years now, and statistics show they're the least likely to find work again. Retraining helps but can be expensive, and people over a certain age don't always find work after retraining.

Hopefully they put away money during the good years that will take care of them now. In the rapidly changing economy of the 21st century, there will be times when the money stops coming in. We need to teach our children to handle money responsibly so they can survive and even thrive during the inevitable slow spells they'll face someday.

Biden: Those Jobs are Gone for Good

Vice President Joe Biden told a crowd at a fundraiser in Milwaukee that there's no way to restore 8 million jobs lost during the recession.

Biden did not elaborate on just what kinds of jobs these were, but they were likely to have been lost to offshoring, automation or new technologies. This is why it's so important to help our children develop multiple strengths, because it's likely they'll have several different careers over their lifetimes due to the increased rate of technological change.

Money Isn't the Problem

They tell us that our kids will need to be really good in math and science in order to compete in the global economy of the 21st century. So why is it that despite our throwing billions of dollars at public education in order to make kids smarter, their test scores continue to stagnate? Check out the charts on this post for the real story.

Times Change.......

Five years ago, when the economy was booming and people were spending money left and right, who'd have thought that the New York Times would publish a column written by a "frugal traveler" describing how to take a cruise of the Amazon River for $17 a day....and people would leave comments noting how much they enjoyed his report?

He's Going to University.....Bizdom University

Bizdom U is a boot camp for aspiring entrepreneurs. Sounds like a great post-high school training ground that could not only prove more profitable than a college degree, but wouldn't leave a young person with student debt.

Housing Continues to Dip

The most interesting thing about this article noting how the U.S. housing market continues to dip (despite the recent $8,000 homebuyer credit) is that it assumes that in the future, either housing will drop 5% or it will drop 10-15%. Not even a suggestion that it could go up.

People are finally catching on that without job growth, house prices and sales will continue to drop.

Law School Grads and Jobs

Law students are having a tough time finding jobs when they graduate, so this law school has decided to help its students by artificially inflating their grade point averages.

What's also alarming is what they're doing for this student:

“For people like me who have good grades but are not in the super-elite, there are not as many options for getting a job in advance,” said Zachary Burd, 35, who just graduated from Southern Methodist University. A Dallas family law firm will receive $3,500 to “test drive” him this August.

“They’ll get me for a month or two, for free, to try me out,” he said. “It’s safer for them, and it’s a good foot in the door for me.”

They're having to go to great lengths to get jobs for their grads, aren't they?

Avoiding Debt

Those who are truly prepared for this new economy will be mostly unencumbered by debt, and therefore free to make changes in their careers without being forced to find another job immediately because of all the payments they have to make each month. They’ll have bank accounts to live off of when they need to go back to school for additional training in order to become more marketable. They’ll be able to take time off to start a new business, or to keep a current business afloat by not taking a paycheck for a while. Financial flexibility is of prime importance in the global economy.

Even now, having money in the bank and minimal expenses is what separates those with choices from those tied to a job and living in constant fear of layoffs. By raising money-smart kids, we give them the tools to handle both prosperity and financial difficulty; in the rapidly changing global economy, there are plenty of both.