Recession Confessions

This month, NPR is airing a series of Kitchen Table Conversations, sharing the stories of everyday Americans and how they are coping with the current economic crisis.

We want to know how you are handling it. Are you spending less? What are you cutting down on? What is the one thing you will not sacrifice or skimp on despite these tough times?

Here's what a few folks had to say...

I try to buy things I'll like and keep for a while (high quality and interesting). I'd rather buy a lot less and do that, than buy things I don't like. Drew, Lexington, MA

I am spending less. I’ve stopped going to restaurants and movie theaters. I have also been cutting down on clothing purchases. I haven’t been to the mall in weeks …quite shocking frankly! I am also really nervous about the holiday season and being able to afford quality presents for friends and family. I will never give up ordering pizza. Sarah, Hartford, CT

I’m a little embarrassed to admit this but I haven’t actually changed my lifestyle at all. I know people are hurting right now and that our economy is probably only going to get worse, but the reality for me is that I still consume the same amount of “stuff.” I still fill my cart at the grocery store and go out to eat a few times a week. I still buy clothes and other consumer goods. I haven’t been compelled to trade in my SUV for a Prius or turn my thermostat down to 58 degrees. Sure I’m frustrated with the increased costs of daily living, but not enough to change the way I live my life. Susan, Avon, CT

Yes, I am spending less, but not so much because of the economy. I’m cutting down on going out to bars and eating out at restaurants, but I will never give up my my DVR/HD on my TV. Chris, Burlington MA

I am spending less but this is really a function of paying for two kids in college more than the economy....even though assets we were counting on to pay for tuition have lost alot of value so we are using our savings and cutting back on vacations, going out to eat, home improvements, new cars etc......I will not cut out my wine with dinner. Vince, Hartford, CT

I almost never drive my car anymore, but this is easier for me since I live in a city. I give more money to homeless people. I see so many on the streets, and it's heartbreaking. Jerome, New Haven, CT

What about you?

Making Sense of the Bailout

By Ruth Cullen, Forum Staff

I don't know about you, but all this bailout talk is making my head spin.

It's hard enough to sift through the non-stop blather about "illiquid" this and "troubled assets" that without the added complication of spin and bias from just about everyone - and namely, politicians and pundits.

Who to trust? Where to find credible, unbiased straight talk about what the bailout is and why it's both important and urgent?

Barring the discovery of a Cliff Notes version of the 451-page Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, here's an interesting round-up of voices chiming in about the proposed bailout bill, politics, and the current state of our U.S. economy to help all of us get a clue.

From Ian Ayres' article in The New York Times...

At the end of the day, it may be necessary to get the at-risk incumbents and their challengers to agree to take this issue off the table. If McCain and Obama jointly reached out to both sides in these close races, it might be possible for both contenders for a House seat to simultaneously agree to support the package. This will not be easy. Adversaries in tight races are loathe to cooperate when there is political advantage to be had in clinging to the popular position. But the alternative is to ask some incumbent members to engage in probabilistic political suicide. Read more...

From Senator John McCain as quoted in the Los Angeles Times...

"Crises often have a way of revealing our better selves, of showing what we're made of and how much we can achieve when we're put to the test," the Arizona senator said, speaking to about 100 supporters in a cozy wood-paneled auditorium at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum. "It should not require extreme emergencies, when the future of our entire economy is on the line, to bring out the best of us. . . . We are supposed to do that even in the calmest of times." Read more...

From Senator Barack Obama as quoted on Politico...

“This is not just a Wall Street crisis – it’s an American crisis, and it’s the American economy that needs this rescue plan,” Obama said in a floor speech. And behind the scenes he is making phone calls to House Democrats helping to shore up that vote Friday." Read more...

From Thomas Friedman in The New York Times...

I totally understand the resentment against Wall Street titans bringing home $60 million bonuses. But when the credit system is imperiled, as it is now, you have to focus on saving the system, even if it means bailing out people who don’t deserve it. Otherwise, you’re saying: I’m going to hold my breath until that Wall Street fat cat turns blue. But he’s not going to turn blue; you are, or we all are. We have to get this right. Read more...

From George Soros in The Guardian...

"The fact that the plan was rejected in Congress provides an opportunity to amend it to make it more effective," Soros told Reuters in an interview. "The way to do it is to focus on recapitalizing the banks by injecting equity and actually encouraging existing shareholders to provide that equity." Read more...

From James Klurfeld in Newsday...

Over the years, I've always believed that no matter how cumbersome our form of government, no matter how deeply felt were our differences, in a crisis, serious people can come together and solve problems.

When I heard that the House had voted against the bailout Monday, it shook the very foundation of that belief.

It looks like the House will have another chance. For all our sakes, I hope that the serious people can prevail. Read more...

From a speech made by Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1932, as quoted in BusinessWeek...

The "mirage" of American economic invulnerability has vanished, along with "much of the savings of thrifty and prudent men and women...We need to correct, by drastic means if necessary, the faults in our economic system from which we now suffer," he said. Read more...