Posts Tagged ‘money’

Is Economic Anxiety Bipartisan?

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

The Atlantic’s Chris Good says that it is:

Gallup released findings today on economic confidence by state, and it appears anxiety doesn’t give a clear partisan edge one way or the other.

Conventional wisdom says that an improved, or improving, economy is good for President Obama and Democrats, while economic anxiety is bad for the president’s party. Of the 10 states with the highest confidence ratings, five voted for Obama in ‘08 and five voted for John McCain; of the 10 states with the least confidence in the economy, six voted for Obama and four for McCain.

Five minutes later, the commenter “jennis psycho” said:

Your thesis does not follow from the data you cite.

And jennis psycho is correct. Good falls prey to our old friend, the ecological fallacy.

Better data is actually sitting immediately to the right of Good’s blog post: the ABC/WP consumer confidence index. You click on that link, then you click on the pdf in the ABC story.

Here is the consumer confidence rating of the three partisan groups (no word on how independent leaners were classified, but I am guessing they were classified as independents):

Republicans: -46
Democrats: -51
Independents: -49

So the difference here are small — especially compared to the differences across income groups, where consumer confidence ranges from -75 among those making $15,000 or less to -6 among those making $100,000 or more. It appears that a lack of consumer confidence is bipartisan.

But the most recent numbers obscure an important trend that indicates partisanship is at work. If you compare Democrats now to one year ago, their consumer confidence has improved by 10 points. But Republicans’ confidence has declined by 12 points. A year ago, Democrats were 27 points “less confident” than Republicans. Now they are 5 points less confident. Independents, meanwhile, are virtually unchanged.

A while back, Andy and I wrote up this basic finding and a number of others under the heading “Red and Blue Economies. The broader point is this. Even if Republican and Democrats currently have similar views of the economy — “bipartisanship,” in Good’s terminology — partisan bias may still be at work.

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Living A Stress Free Life

Sunday, May 10th, 2009

Living A Stress Free Life Requires Only Three Ingredients

Many of us are stressed beyond belief, but we can’t figure out why. And, looking at the retail sales of anxiety medications and over the counter drugs, we’re living in one of the most stress filled times in human history. It could be the fear that we’re losing our retirement money in the tanking stock market. Or possibly it’s the fact that one fifth of the job force where we work has been let go and we think there’s a good chance that we might be next. Or maybe it’s just wondering how we can possibly ignore the negative influences all around us and raise our children in a moral environment. These things, and more, are slowly starting to wear us down and fray our nerves to the point where we are desperately looking for solutions to take some of the stress out of our lives.

One of the popular ways to deal with stress is to do what it takes to get just three things in life. The main reason that many people are feeling stressed out is a sense that they’ve lost control over their lives. It’s easy to be relaxed and stress free when you’re in control. When you have money, health, and security – you’re in control, and relaxed.

Money

It’s no secret that money is the grease that makes modern society work. With enough money, you’re able to move your family to a respectable neighborhood, and not have to worry about crime or security. With enough money, you don’t have to worry about health care. You’ll have a nice health insurance policy, go to the best doctors, and generally have access to the best possible health care. But, in a time like this, when people are having trouble finding jobs, how can you be sure that you have all the money you need? The answer is, if you depend on others, then you can’t. If you want to have the money necessary to give you the stress free life that you crave, you have to take control of your livelihood outside of your employer’s hand. Doing that takes planning. And by planning, you’ll be able to decide if you need to go to school to get more skills, if you need to network to get more money making opportunities, or if you should start your own business.

Health

Life is imply not much fun without health. When you’re sick, it’s stressful to your mind, it puts stress on your body, and it can be financially draining as well. There’s no way that any of us can guarantee ourselves an injury and illness free existence. But what we can do is to control the foods we eat and how we take care of ourselves. Researchers estimate that many of the catastrophic diseases that shorten our lifespans – heart disease, cancer, strokes, hypertension, diabetes – are largely triggered by lifestyle and food choices.

Security

From the time we are babies, we’re all looking for security. Our cities, suburbs, and towns employ police forces to make them secure We have soldiers to make our country secure. And we have building guards to make our homes and offices secure. And as a result, we’re less stressful.

If you have these three things – money, health, and security – no matter how you get them, you’re guaranteed to live a pretty stress free existence.

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The Economy Is Making Americans Sick?

Thursday, April 30th, 2009

There’s yet another downside to the slipping economy, it’s making many people sick.

That’s according to an online survey, which found one in five employees in the U.S. face mental health problems because they’re worried about losing their jobs.

Employment agency Adecco USA, which conducted the survey, says the best thing an employer can do to to curb workplace anxiety is be honest with employees about how the company is handling the recession.

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Economic Anxiety Skyrockets As Obama Turns To Hope

Friday, April 3rd, 2009

The Associated Press headlined that his economic recovery plan is “sowing some unease,” and The New York Times has reported he could not assure Americans the economy would grow again by the end of the year.

But as the economy, coupled with economic policies of increased government intervention and spending, threatens to unhinge a presidency that is no more than three months old, Barack Obama has returned to a message of hope at a time to ease fears of his leadership.

“I knew that solving this crisis would not be easy, nor would it happen overnight,” Mr. Obama said during his weekly radio address.

“And we will continue to face difficult days in the months ahead. But I also believe that we will get through this — that if we act swiftly and boldly and responsibly, the United States of America will emerge stronger and more prosperous than it was before.”

With General Motors releasing a report revealing “substantial doubt” in the automaker’s future and the government announcing 651,000 jobs were lost in February, national anxiety has heightened, and talks of an economic depression are becoming more prominent.

According to the Rasmussen Investor’s Index, confidence in the economy has fallen to an all time low as investors are stymied by future predictions of economic gloom. Seventy-five percent of investors responded the economy is getting worse; a twelve point jump since Mr. Obama’s inauguration.

“My administration is committed to doing all that’s necessary to address this crisis and lead us to a better day,” Mr. Obama said in his address.

“That’s why we’re moving forward with an economic agenda that will jump-start job creation, restart lending, relieve responsible homeowners, and address the long-term economic challenges of our time: the cost of health care, our dependence on oil, and the state of our schools.”

But it is the prospect of a government spending spree, in which Washington shows little, if no, fiscal restraint, that have Republicans claiming is the cause of the very economic anxiety Mr. Obama is hoping to alleviate. And the $400-billion-plus spending bill being negotiated in Congress is Exhibit A.

“Let’s call it how it is. First of all, if you make a promise, people expect that you live up to it. And that’s why this administration’s refusal to go in and change this bill is, I think, is a false position,” House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., told CNN yesterday.

Republicans have been critical of the spending bill and have chastised the administration for pushing a bill that is loaded with earmarks. They have called for the bill to be scrapped.

And though Republican lawmakers have earmarks in the bill, Mr. Cantor argued the GOP was not being hypocritical because he had asked for a moratorium on the practice.

The White House, however, admitted the bill is “uglier than we’d like,” but are nonetheless going forward with the spending legislation.

“This is like your relief pitcher coming into the ninth inning, and wanting to redo the whole game,” Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag told CNN’s “State of the Union” yesterday. “Next year we’re going to be the starting pitcher, and the game’s going to be completely different.”

Mr. Cantor, though, questioned the credibility of a party that has already broken key promises such as the promise of bipartisanship.

“There is no way anyone could take what Mr. Orszag has said with any credibility. Of course they’re negotiating on this bill in the Senate right now. To say that we would have drawn it differently, but leave $430 billion plus on the table like this? No way. People are expecting this administration to live up to the promises made,” Mr. Cantor said.

But as investor confidence plummets and consumer spending stalls, Mr. Obama is aware of the challenges he faces and urged people not to “stuff money in their mattresses.”

“I don’t think that people should be fearful about our future,” Mr. Obama told The New York Times. “I don’t think that people should suddenly mistrust all of our financial institutions.”

And while the president could not assure Americans the economy would grow again, he pledged to “get all the pillars in place for recovery this year.”

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Anxiety In The Elderly

Tuesday, March 31st, 2009

Bills. Money. Spouse. Your car. Your home. Your kids.

For some people, like Joan Daues, the worrying never ends. “People kept saying to me, ‘Joan, don’t worry about that. Don’t worry about this,’” said Joan Daues.

This former Miss Missouri Senior America suffers from generalized anxiety disorder. Although she was able to control her anxiety to win the crown.

“I’ve got a picture of me crying, and they put my banner on upside down.”

Off stage, though, her anxiety was all-encompassing, and Joan is not alone. One in 10 people over age 60 is diagnosed with an anxiety disorder.

“On average, a person with generalized anxiety disorder spends 40 hours per week occupied with their worries,” said Eric Lenze.

Symptoms include insomnia, fatigue, muscle tension and irritability. The stress can increase the risk of heart attacks and stroke.

“Some brain changes with aging may predispose some people to have those worries be more chronic,” said Eric Lenze.

Until now, seniors diagnosed with anxiety disorders were prescribed sedative drugs that could cause problems like falls and memory loss.
Now, doctors are turning to serotonin reuptake inhibitors,or anti-depressants, to improve symptoms.

After 12 weeks of taking the drug daily, 68 percent of patients said their anxiety was much improved. As for Joan, she worries less.

“I just want to try to be as calm and as easy to live with as possible.”

And is able to concentrate on doing the things she loves.

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Men Are More Prone To Economic Anxiety

Sunday, March 29th, 2009

Late last week, the Financial Times (UK) ran a story about how men are more ‘prone to credit crunch blues’ than women in the same situation. The story is focused on men who think they might lose their jobs, who become more depressed and anxious than women. This assessment comes out of a study from Cambridge University sociologist Brendan Burchell.

The Financial Times reports

This anxiety reflected males’ “macho” belief about “men being the breadwinner”, said Brendan Burchell, the Cambridge sociologist who carried out the research. “Men, unlike women, have few positive ways of defining themselves outside of the workplace between when they leave school and when they retire,” he said.

More from Burchell

The stress and anxiety of people who had become unemployed “bottomed out” after about six months as they adapted to their new circumstances. By contrast, people who had not lost their jobs but thought they might be fired showed steadily worsening mental health for one to two years.

Mr Burchell said: “Given that most economic forecasts predict that the recession will be long with a slow recovery, the results mean that many people – and men in particular – could be entering into a period of prolonged and growing misery.”

Commenting on possible solutions, Mr Burchell stressed the need “to restabilise the City” – adding a mental health angle to the well-rehearsed economic arguments for shoring up the banking system.

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