Signs of Our Economic Times: Nasty Ads, Overqualified Census Workers, Married Men Who Cheat, and More

The recession and its long-lingering effects may be at least partly responsible for why your child is enrolled in public school, your lawyer is depressed, and your husband is cheating on you.

Some atypical signs of how we and the economy are faring of late:

No Excuse for Census to Get Numbers Wrong This Time. Because so many people are out of work, the Census Bureau has had its pick of part-time employees, and the result is that those hired this year are probably the most experienced, best-qualified ever to compile census statistics. One woman hired for a part-time temporary assignment is a veteran of the U.S. State Department who has a Ph.D. and speaks seven languages.

Get Your Bargain Space Shuttle Here! NASA is selling vintage 1970s-era spaceships—yes, real ones, not toys—and because no buyers have surfaced, the asking price has dropped from $42 million to $28.8 million apiece. If I trade in my old gas-guzzling space shuttle in the transaction, will the government give me a $4.5 million rebate?

The Firm in a Bad Funk. Traffic is up 25% at the website Lawyers with Depression. Why? Law firm jobs are scarce, billable hours are down, and if you’re not making big bucks, it’s harder to be at peace with those huge law school loans and 100-hour work weeks.

On Second Thought, Public School Is Just Fine. With money tight, families are less likely to pay private school tuitions: By next fall, U.S. private schools are expected to be teaching about 174,000 fewer students, a drop of 3% compared to 2006.

Downscaling Upscale Department Stores. Bloomingdales is the latest big name to enter the discount outlet store market. Saks and Nordstrom are already operating outlet stores, and four Bloomies outlets are expected to open on the East Coast by the summer or fall.

Advertisements Tell You What Sucks. Instead of relentlessly hammering the optimistic “be the best you” drum, advertising campaigns are more likely now to mock competitor products and to acknowledge the limitations of any product, per the NY Times. The new ad take is meant to hit home with a newly realistic, even ornery national mood.

When Jobs Fade Away, Men Will Play. Being unemployed leaves you with low self-esteem and lots of time on your hands—both of which factor heavily into a higher likelihood of married men having affairs. Among other signs that the recession has led to a rise in extramarital affaris, membership has risen sharply among websites that help hook women up with married men (or vice versa). Who says that women only find men attractive if they have good (or any) jobs?

Odd Economic Indicator Round-up: More Jews Moving to Israel, More Cramped Cubicles, More Smoking and Surfing Porn

http://money.blogs.time.com/2010/04/21/signs-the-economy-isnt-a-total-basket-case/ Signs the Economy Isn’t a Total Basket Case – It's Your Money – TIME.com

[...] a falloff in men's underwear sales, a rise in animals being abandoned at pet shelters, and the impressively overqualified status of this year's census workers. Now, at long last, we've got some signs that the economy is picking [...]
http://money.blogs.time.com/2010/07/09/top-10-signs-of-a-troubled-economy-andor-the-apocalypse/ Top 10 Signs of a Troubled Economy and/or the Apocalypse – It's Your Money – TIME.com

[...] Signs of our Economic times: Nasty Ads, Overqualified Census Workers, Married Men Who Cheat, and Mor… [...]
Mekhong Kurt

The mention of the British royals seemed a bit odd, given that the rest of the examples are, presumably, U.S.-inspired, but at least their example is in the ballpark — which leads to my comment.

Perhaps our own leaders at all levels of government could take a symbolic (and permanent) pay cut, something reasonable — 10%, say — with the money saved directed towards paying the national/state/county (or parish)/local debt, depending on the official’s level. And I mean both elected and unelected officials. That would be a tiny start, but it might help my next suggestion take off.

That is, maybe allow taxpayers to check a box specifying that X number of dollars of their refund be redirected towards paying on the national debt. There would need to be a blank, and a limit, perhaps, say, a maximum of 10% of the refund could be so redirected. I realize many people need every last cent of that refund, so this has to be voluntary — something like the checking off to devote a bit towards public funding of elections. This also could be done at other levels of government that impose income taxes and have debt (all!).

Unfortunately, politicians being politicians, the two suggestions come with a necessary condition: every last cent so redirected has to be 100% beyond the ability of Congress/state legislatures/county governments/municipal governments to get their grubby paws on. Period. If, for example, Congress agreed it’s a great idea to let people do this on their federal income tax return BUT insisted on being able to channel the money wherever they damned well wish — forget it, as far as I’m concerned. Well, there MIGHT be one alternative: if Congress wanted to spend every last penny on, say, education — with not one single new bureaucrat or agency being hired/created, I’d be willing to consider it. I would be mighty suspicious however, and I don’t care whether we’re talking about Republican or Democrat or Independent or Tea Party or anybody else, nor about whether we’re talking about liberal or conservative: I’m suspicious of them *all.*

I have no idea if these moves would have any significant impact, though I can’t imagine they would hurt, particularly if in the second one large numbers of taxpayers redirected a significant percentage.