Cockeyed Optimists or Self-Fulfilling Prophets?
Even while their personal worries have deepened, Americans have been feeling more upbeat about the national economy’s prospects and less concerned about rising inequality. What underlies this trend and can it be sustained?
Recession Pounds States’ Budgets
Stateline.org’s legislative review finds state budgets in such dire straits that they are closing prisons in Colorado and Kansas, raising taxes on the rich in New York and even taxing bourbon in Kentucky — and the worst is yet to come.
Gen Next Squeezed By Recession, But Most See Better Times Ahead
While the economic downturn is falling quite heavily on younger Americans, their overall outlook remains optimistic. A new survey also finds Generation Next expressing more liberal views when compared with older age cohorts as well as evidence of increased political engagement.
Most Middle-Aged Adults Are Rethinking Retirement Plans
In the midst of a recession that has taken a heavy toll on many nest eggs, just over half of all working adults ages 50 to 64 say they may delay their retirement — and another 16% say they never expect to stop working.
Not Your Grandfather’s Recession — Literally
Relatively speaking, older Americans’ attitudes and lifestyles have been less affected by the economic slump than have those of younger Americans. Meantime, the “Threshold Generation,” people nearing retirement, have been hardest hit, as they’ve seen their nest eggs shrink the most.
Through Boom and Bust: Minorities, Immigrants and Homeownership
The ups and downs in the U.S. housing market over the past decade and a half have generated both greater gains and larger losses for minority groups than for whites.
Luxury or Necessity? The Public Makes a U-Turn
From the kitchen to the laundry room to the home entertainment center, Americans are paring down the list of familiar household appliances they say they can’t live without.
The Phantom Recovery
The eight-year period from 1999 through 2007 is the longest in modern U.S. economic history in which inflation-adjusted median household income failed to surpass an earlier peak.
Before the Current Recession, a Phantom Recovery
Pew Research Center Executive Vice President Paul Taylor’s full testimony to the Senate Finance Committee.
State of the News Media 2009
Even before the recession, the fundamental question facing journalism was whether the news industry could win a race against the clock for survival. In the last year, two important things happened that have effectively shortened the time left on that clock. Some of the numbers are chilling.
