TheLoop21.com

Older Blacks pay high price in recession

by alyssa g
For Blacks over 45, the recession can be measured by doing without.

As compared to the general population, older African Americans have had to cut back more on medications and food and have struggled to keep up with mortgage payments, as reported by The Seattle Times. In other words, it’s a battle to keep that roof overhead and food on the table.

A survey by the AARP revealed these difficulties for Blacks who are established in their careers. But work experience and longevity didn’t protect them from layoffs, and twice as many lost a job or had a spouse laid off as compared to the rest of the population.

Wake up call for health care reform

by alyssa g
The 39 percent increase in health care premiums for Anthem Blue Cross’s California customers is an unambiguous reminder of the urgency of health care reform.

Come on Congress, now is no time to slack off. It’s true that Democrats failed to finalize reform back in the days when they had a Senate supermajority. It’s also true that the compromised version that passed the Senate in December was an unappetizing mush of bipartisan compromise and insurance/pharmaceutical industry influence. And while now it’s the Republicans who are calling to trash the whole thing and start anew, last year it was Howard Dean saying the same thing.

But the excessive price hike by Anthem is a timely reminder that the system is broken and needs immediate attention.

The tenants got it right, StuyTown owner slips underwater

by alyssa g
The biggest real estate transaction in U.S. history proved no match for a tanking economy, even on the planet of Manhattan.

Tishman Speyer relinquished control of the 11,200-unit Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Villager to its lenders after defaulting on its January loan payment. The move is not surprising, just hugely symbolic after the superlative headlines the $5.4 billion deal made in 2006. Now the property is assessed at $1.9 billion.

The difference between Tishman and the 2.8 million foreclosures last year is that the company is unlikely to suffer anything more than embarrassment. It still holds a $33.5 billion portfolio of 72 million square feet of property in the United States, Europe, Asia and Latin America.

Power to the People: Moving funds to teach big banks a lesson

by alyssa g
There’s an effort underfoot to get “we the people” to pull our money out of the big banks and deposit it in community banks as a way to send a message to Washington and Wall Street that we can do more than gripe about bailouts and bonuses.

Does this remind anyone of those misguided email chain letters urging everyone to boycott certain gas stations to shove it to evil middle eastern oil conglomerates? (Even though Canada is actually our biggest supplier.)

Still, the idea has a certain populist appeal--I’d like to believe that shifting my meager bank account could have an impact, wouldn’t you? But do any of us really have enough in savings to catch their attention?

Here’s a promotional video, based on the seasonal fave, It’s a Wonderful Life.

Welcome

by alyssa g
Welcome!

With the start of a new year, we’re starting up this new blog here at TheLoop21.

Here you’ll find a look at pieces of news on finance and economics and how it rolls out into the lives of regular folks. 
The recession has served as a clear reminder that what happens in the remote world of high finance definitely affects the rest of us, and can have a devastating impact on our job prospects, on our ability to afford a house, on the retirement plans of our families.

So let’s keep an eye on what’s going on in finance and what it means to us.