Thursday Links Go Airborne

The End of Hyperconsumerism – The Atlantic

We work a lot, play a little, and marvel at how quickly time passes. What we don’t do is spend much time pondering why we’re doing the things we do or whether there might be a better way to live. For a long while, this surface-level existence was enough; but now our priorities are changing. The Great Recession has yielded much hardship, but we also must credit it for yanking us out of our ruts and routines and making us reconsider what is really important – and how satisfying our lives truly have been.

Foreclosures Remain High in First Half of 2010 – The Atlantic

The Last Gasp Bubble of Government.com – Minyanville, Todd Harrison

I’ve repeatedly offered that the financial crisis hasn’t disappeared; it simply changed shape. It–for lack of a better analogy–has gone airborne, migrating from the tangible to the amorphous, from Wall Street to Main Street, from a distant coexistence to an emerging class war. It, like most viruses, will arrive in waves and infect those who haven’t been inoculated with a steady stream of financial consciousness.

Gauge your internal reaction to every opinion you read or hear, multiply it by millions and you’ll begin to imagine the magnitude of the shifting social mood. While the recent stock market rally reflects renewed optimism that can conceivably continue the chasm between perception and reality is widening; while the tape can run, we, the people are running out of places to hide.

California’s Building Bust Choking Off Jobs – WSJ

Amid the tepid economic recovery, California’s construction industry continues to hemorrhage jobs, helping to explain why unemployment across the state remains so much worse than elsewhere in the country.

The Great Decoupling of Corporate Profits from Jobs – Robert Reich

The reality is this: Big American companies may never rehire large numbers of workers. And they won’t even begin to think about hiring until they know American consumers will buy their products. The problem is, American consumers won’t start buying against until they know they have reliable paychecks.

Europe’s €30 trillion headache – Telegraph, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard

“The collective funding needs of Europe’s banks are vast. The industry is much larger than America’s or Asia’s. Most of their mortgages and other personal loans stay on their balance sheets and require funding. This contrasts with the US, where financial institutions securitize (these) loans and which do not require balance sheet funding,” said Scott Bugie, S&P’s credit strategist. Total liabilities are €23 trillion for the eurozone and €8 trillion for the UK, Sweden, and Denmark.

California ‘fiscal emergency’ declared – BBC News

“Without a budget in place that addresses our $19bn deficit, every day brings California closer to a fiscal meltdown,” Mr Schwarzenegger said in a statement.

Anchoring Effect – You Are Not So Smart (HT Patrick)

Many of the choices you make every day are reruns of past decisions, like channels dug into a dirt road by a wagon train of selections, you follow the path created by your former self.

External anchors, like prices before a sale or ridiculous requests, are obvious enough you can sidestep the actual price, the real appeal. Internal, self-generated anchors, are not so easy to bypass.

You visit the same circuit of websites everyday, eat basically the same few breakfasts.

When it comes time to buy new cat food or take your car in for repairs, you have old favorites.

Come election time, you pretty much already know who will and will not get your vote.

These choices, so predictable, ask yourself what drives them. Are old anchors controlling your current decisions?

When you are parting with your money, know the person on the other side of the deal thinks you are not so smart and is depending on the anchoring effect when they tell you how much you are about to save.

Report: Unemployment High Because People Keep Blowing Their Job Interviews – The Onion

According to the findings, seven out of 10 Americans could have landed their dream job last month if they had known where they see themselves in five years, and the number of unemployed could be reduced from 14.6 million to 5 million if everyone simply greeted potential employers with firmer handshakes, maintained eye contact, and stopped fiddling with their hair and face so much.

Fiserv Sees More Pain Ahead in House Prices – HousingWire

Fiserv projects that single-family house prices are likely to fall another 4.9% over the next 12 months as tight economic circumstances continue. Continued high unemployment and a large number of distressed properties remaining in markets like Florida, Arizona and Nevada are weighing on the housing market.

Supermarket backs squirrel meat – The Raw Story

“In a few years’ time, it’s going to become like rabbit,” said Andrew Thornton, who introduced squirrel meat into his branch of the Budgens supermarket in north London this year.