This is our last day here at EconomyBeat, where we focused on user-generated content related to the economic downturn and other aspects of the nation’s financial life. What is not ending, however, are the effects of The Great Recession — which we tried to capture by going directly to the source. The country may, as [...]

On our last day, here’s our top post of all time (or the last nine months, which amounts to the same thing). This post had legs like Betty Grable, probably because it so clearly illustrated just how badly the employment situation was deteriorating last year. 1. Geography of a recession (Nov 30, 2009) This is [...]

Our last day, our last photo gallery. Here are our favorites, culled from the entire lot… <a href=" More photos here

As we wrap up here at the EconomyBeat Podcast, I thought we could take a long view and look back the the last great depression, the one in the 20th century. Over the next five minutes or so, feel free to reflect and do a little comparing and contrasting for yourself.  Fewer than 1 in [...]

From Reddit’s IAmA section:

I am a Bill Collector, ask me anything.

Extracts:

Question:

I’ve had my share of ER bills and more than a few of them have gone unpaid. When the collection agency starts calling, I tried to politely explain that I just couldn’t pay because I didn’t have any money. I have lost my temper on a few occasions, particularly when a debt collector suggested I take out a loan to pay my unpaid medical bills. So my question is this: how much influence do you have over an individual’s credit rating? At what point does the uncollected bill start to effect my credit rating? If I start ranting and raving at you, do you just press a button that says I defaulted or didn’t pay or something like that?

From the Real-World Economics Review Blog, a timeline of warnings and events going back to 1995 and leading up to the financial crisis of the last few years. Some early warnings from various economists: Sept, 2001 “the new housing boom is another rapidly inflating asset bubble financed by the same loose money practices that fuelled [...]

2. Health care reform explained on the back of a napkin – Simple graphics illustrate a topic that baffled most Americans for an entire year. (Oct 14, 2009) Original post: After reading countless articles and opinion pieces on the health care debate, and watching dozens of talking heads slug it out over individual mandates, insurance [...]

3. “Who the hell is John-Boy?” – blog post arguing that the American corporation, dominated by baby-boomer management, is out of touch with the youth culture that drives much of Americans’ spending (Mar 15, 2010) Original post: On Grant McCracken’s blog, which “sits at the intersection of anthropology and economics,” this post argues that the [...]

4. Funny unemployment photos – from the blog Unemploymentality (Nov 6, 2009) Previous top-post entries: 25. Colorado Springs: City of the future? – Anti-tax haven Colorado Springs finds itself in desperate fiscal straits, touching off schadenfreude and defensiveness on the Web. 24. Sub-prime the Musical – college student creates series of podcasts on the causes [...]

Paris Porter moved from the South Side of Chicago to St. Paul, Minnesota when he was 6. His family was part of a migration to the Twin Cities in the 1990s when the economy was creating more jobs than it had workers to fill them. Was Minnesota a welfare magnet in the 1990s or a [...]