New Year – New Struggles

Three weeks ago, the nation rung in the New Year. Parties, noise makers, the annual ball drop in NYC. The moment the year turns, the positivity is at a high. People make their resolutions, but like most they do not last long. The weeks ahead promises all gyms to be full, all diet products to be bought, but eventually the gym clears out and the fast food consumption increases.

Like the fall of resolutions as the year continues, the economy seems to work the same way. 2012 started with positivity, because naturally that is the way every New Year begins. Unfortunately, the signs of our economic resolutions deteriorating are at a high rate.

Those people, who struggled to purchase holiday gifts for their loved ones, are still unemployed. The unemployment rate is continuing to worsen and it has been projected that within the next year 150,000 more jobs will be lost. Not only are people losing jobs, but major companies are in dire trouble. Hostess Brands, the makers of the sweets people have been enjoying since 1925, are filing for bankruptcy. Along with Sears and Kmart who have announced that many stores will be closing. Five thousand other stores are predicted to close as well.

As if those statistics are not enough to bring about fear, it looks as if America’s fifteen trillion dollar debt is only one of many global problems. Europe’s economy is clearly under duress. Italy, Germany, and France are all experiencing high unemployment rates and inflation – heading towards recession. The UK is experiencing a slow down and the price for a gallon of gasoline has, unbelievably, hit $9.67 dollars. Spain has seen a 17-year high of bad loans and the unemployment rate has hit a 15-year high. Greece is already in an economic depression. Life there has become so unbearable that a third of the country is living in poverty and the suicide rates have increased by forty percent. Along with Europe, Asia and Japan are also seeing a slow down, any economic recovery they did expect has halted. Europe, the way it is now, has the potential to single-handedly take down the world’s economy. Throw in America, Asia, and Japan and the economic forecast looks hopeless.

The cycle is continuing – collecting debt and borrowing to pay it back. Signs for a global recession are there, now it is up to the citizens to prepare.