“Those who knew Brown’s position [on reform] were as likely to say it made them less likely (39%) to support him as to say it made them more likely to support him (41%).” A post on the Angry Bear economic blog argues that the vote for Republican Scott Brown in Massachussetts, which deprived Senate Democrats [...]

A severe recession, crippling unemployment, a housing collapse, long-lasting foreign wars, a growing chasm between rich and poor, and a political system crippled by partisan gridlock, unable to grapple with entrenched problems…not a few commentators have speculated that American hegemony is rapidly waning, and that an analogy to the Fall of Rome might be in [...]

If you’re near the end of your rope about your unemployment situation, try this compilation of web content: 100 Motivational Blog Posts for the Unemployed, from PsychologyDegree.net. Includes: 10 Valuable Tips to Keep Spirits High During Recession (paggu.com) 100 tips,tools, and resources-to help you survive without a job (Examiner.com) Things I like to do to [...]

Click on an image to see it full size. More photos here.

From the blog Love Your Layoff, some thoughts on buying a home at the wrong time at the wrong interest rate, in perhaps the wrong town…

As much as I’m proud of the work we’ve done on our house, there are some weeks I’d kill to be a renter again. The biggest reason lately is mobility. Last week I was in San Francisco for a conference and feeling the creative vibrancy of the place made me yearn to pack our bags for good… except for the ball and chain that is our mortgage.

PBS NewsHour tried something interesting this year for the State of the Union speech: The show opened up its video comments section on its YouTube channel and posted some video reactions from its audience. Some user videos: American Association of University Women policy advisor expresses support for the speech’s focus on jobs, deficit reduction, and [...]

Below is a lecture on the question of institutional corruption given in October by Professor Lawrence Lessig, director of the Edmond J. Safra Foundation Center for Ethics at Harvard. The center has posted a summary of the lecture; an extract from the summary, on the institutional corruption of the U.S. Congress, is below the video. [...]

Altered business cards uploaded by people who have either been laid off or experienced a change in career situation, from the web site cards of change. Click on each photo to see it full size. More cards of change here.

Reading individual headlines on housing data this week only serves to confuse the picture: Home prices rise for 6th straight month (Washington Post) Home prices decline for first time in 7 months (CNNMoney) December home sales down nearly 17 percent (AP) Sales of new homes fall 7.6% to nine-month low (MarketWatch) Home prices suggest tenuous [...]

From Paper Economy – A U.S. Real Estate Bubble Blog, yesterday: It’s no doubt that we live in speculative times, so in an effort to keep perspective on a day in which the traditional media will endlessly debate and interpret the outcome of the latest S&P/Case-Shiller report, let’s reflect for a moment on Robert Shiller’s [...]