DadTalk

Economy Hits Children

When I first started writing about the housing bubble in 2004, I feared the worst. Still, seeing the future and experiencing it are two different things.

Like most of my readers, I live in a fairly insulated community where it’s difficult to “see” what is happening to large swaths of America. We read about unemployment and poverty, but you have to know someone or drive around nearby neighborhoods to really feel the effects of the housing crash.

Statistics only tell part of the story, but they do provide some guidance. A record 33.8 million Americans received food stamps in April, reports Bloomberg. That’s a 20 percent increase from last year and a 1.8 percent climb from the month prior.

Considering that official unemployment is at 9.5 percent, it’s not surprising that the number of families needing food stamps has been increasing. Keep in mind that many economists believe the unofficial unemployment rate – people who are no longer eligible for benefits are excluded from official numbrs – is closer to 20 percent.

Why You Must Eat That Chocolate Chip Cookie

Food scientists have known for years that they can create food junkies simply by combining a little fat, sugar and salt. Add another addictive ingredient such as chocolate and you have the namesake cookie that is almost impossible to resist.

The cookie is so potent that former Food and Drug Administration chief Dr. David Kessler decided to write “The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite,” which is reviewed in The New York Times.

Restaurants and food makers long have been taking advantage of our human weaknesses. Writes The Times:

Growing Up Without Dad

My dad died when I was 9. For most of my life, I would have denied that his death had any real impact on my development.

After all, I was a fiercely self-sufficient young boy with a strong sense of awareness at a very young age. On the day my dad died, I mentally took on the role of “oldest male” in the house and never really saw his death as a negative. I suppose that’s strange, but I’ve always been the type who rises to meet adversity.

Of course, there was a touch of silliness to it. I didn’t get a job as my grandfather did when his dad died. I didn’t take over the role of raising my brother. And in actuality, I didn’t know squat.

But, I did grow up a lot on the day my dad died from an embolism caused by a metal plate used to mend a broken leg. My sense of responsibility was immediate and immutable. In many ways, I acted as adult-like as my immature mind could muster.

It wasn’t until my kids were born that I started to realize something had been lost. Consider:

About Those High Gas Prices…

You may have noticed I’ve been somewhat quiet about financial stories lately. In large part, that’s because the media is doing a much better covering the economic crises than it had during the housing bubble.

But the other reason has to do with a sort of disillusionment with America’s financial system. You see, I’ve come to understand that intentionally or not, the entire economic system is designed to help the wealthy far more than the average working Joe.

Rather than launch a dissertation, I’m going to keep this simple with two seemingly unconnected stories. The first story touches an issue near and dear to our hearts: gas prices have risen 41 days in a row, reports The New York Times.

As I’m sure you’re aware, high gas prices can have a severe impact on household spending. Besides pumping more bucks straight into your gas tank, consumer prices on all sorts of products usually rise. In January, Americans were spending $600 million a day on gas. Today, gas costs consumers about $1 billion a day.

But here’s how I suspect most Americans see it:

Credit Card Firms May Punish Those Who Pay Bills on Time

For decades I’ve played a cat-and-mouse game with the credit card companies. It’s not what you think.

You see, I’ve been paying the full balance each month shortly after graduating college in 1986, because I detest paying interest. Profit-hungry banks don’t like those of us who pay off our debts while taking advantage of all their “great” deals because we:

• Avoid annual fees;
• Favor cards with the best rewards; and we
• Prefer gold cards for free insurance and other benefits.

So the banks continuously are looking for ways to trip up us “zero” balance folks. When I lived in Chicago, my bill would arrive only days before it was due. This problem was created because my bank shortened the number of days I had to respond, and because Chicago has the worst mail system in the nation, according The Consumerist.

Food Safety Let the Eater Beware

Did you know that one big food maker wants you to stop using the microwave for frozen meals and instead use a conventional oven? Why, you ask? Because some big food makers are now relying on customers to make prepared food safe now that they cannot, reports The New York Times.

The concern isn’t about raw meat. Instead, the big food makers can’t guarantee vegetables and seasonings aren’t contaminated with salmonella, E. coli and other pathogens.

Consider ConAgra’s problems with “frozen pot pies that sickened an estimated 15,000 people with salmonella in 2007:”

Happy Mother’s Day!

Our celebration will be somewhat subdued this year. My wife’s schedule makes it hard to make breakfast in bed – she gets up around noon. Or 1 p.m. Or 10 a.m. We never really know on the weekends. And of course our finances are tight this year.

Making the day kind of weird, two of Lael’s playmates inexplicably scheduled a birthday party for the afternoon. I had planned to skip it, but Anne told the parents we’d be there. (I suspect my wife wasn’t aware it was on Mother’s Day.)

In the evening, I’m taking the whole family, including my mom, out for dinner. Besides flowers, the only other present this year are movie tickets.

Hope you all have a wonderful Mothers Day!

Want to Learn More About Twitter?

If you don’t, I understand. I mean, enough is enough already. On the other hand, Twitter is getting hard to run away from. If you want to learn more, go to my other site for an article on how to make the most of Twitter.

Guilt-Free Earth Day

In each place I’ve lived, I’ve faced various problems being green minded:

• In Florida, sorting out recyclables into several open-aired boxes was mind-boggling. Rain often ruined the paper products.
• In Los Angeles, we had to commute because kid-friendly neighborhoods are far from where I worked downtown.
• In our Chicago apartment, we were pretty sure the landlord was tossing our dutifully separated recyclables in with the regular trash.
• And in Arizona, we are exclusively buying bottled water because I’m prone to kidney stones. The water is so bad, I’m not sure filtering is adequate.

So on this Earth Day, I’m not going to extol you to behave this way or that; it is just too hypocritical. I believe that most Americans want to do what is best for the environment, but when it comes down to it, we’ll commute for affordable housing and better schools and we’ll use the products that best protect our health and fit our needs.

Solutions only work for you or me if they are practical or effective. Consider I recently bought a $13 LED flood light bulb for our kitchen. LEDs use less energy and put off less heat, which is important in Arizona.

The problem? The bulb’s weak bluish light makes me feel like I’m on the set of the Blair Witch Project. I now use that light bulb in a standalone socket as a nightlight.

So on this Earth Day, go without guilt and just keep trying to do your best.

Tough Times for All

These are tough times for most all of us. I can now honestly say I know dozens upon dozens of friends and family who are now unemployed or are about to become so. (My own situation is not so great, either, but that’s for another post. )

It’s important to recognize how the greed of a few has hurt us all. Over the last two decades, the idea of wealth has shifted in several meaningful ways:

1. Banking and investment had become the dominant form of economic growth in the United States. During this period, our best and brightest were diverted from economically and socially more important activities – such as science and health research – to firms that made money for the sake of making money.
2. Greed became not only fashionable, but expected. Dollar-minded parents pushed kids into careers they did not want, which was captured in this New York Times article. The message to many young Americans: wealth + granite countertops equal happiness.
3. Keeping up with the Joneses translated into buying and improving homes far beyond ones means. I had a neighbor who mocked my slowly decaying home in Upland, California. I told him I could not afford huge upgrades. He responded by telling me to refinance. By now, my former neighbor is probably upside down in his mortgage, while several of my other neighbors have recently foreclosed.

The point here is simple: many of my hardworking friends and families are now victims of those who indulged in excessive lifestyles: new cars every year, bigger and bigger houses, gouging of assets from corporations, etc.

My friends and family did not deserve to be punished because others were greedy. It isn’t right. And it bothers me. A lot.