American Morning
Buying toxic bank assets
Today, the Obama administration will roll out its latest plan to tackle the banking crisis and get loans flowing to families and businesses again.
President Obama's Chief Economic Adviser, Christina Romer, joined us live from the White House.
Community bank boom
Bigger is definitely not better right now in the banking business. We're seeing commercial banks buried under a mountain of debt and needing the government to save them from themselves.
But for some smaller, community-based banks... business is booming.
They may not have the name recognition but some start-up banks say they can provide service that's just as good as the larger chains and they say their customer's money is just as safe.
Women and economic recovery
The nation's unemployment rate is still climbing, but it's affecting a lot more men than women.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts unemployment over eight percent for men, but under seven percent for women. That has some experts wondering – could women be key to our recovery?
For more, we talked to Jacki Zehner with the Women's Funding Network and Linda Butler who's benefitted from that network.
Men: Jobless in bed?
Men aren’t supposed to be big on emotion, but at the Santa Monica’s Men Circle in California, they have no problem discussing their innermost feelings. The recession has them worried, they say. The news makes them anxious. There is anger, fear, self doubt. Former masters of the universe all wondering if their futures will be as bright as their pasts.
“I start questioning my self-worth and am I making good decisions,” one group member admits. “And then I start second guessing my other decisions and it starts eroding my confidence.”
In this circle, they feel free to unload.
“There are times when I want to keep a good face,” says one gentleman with graying hair and boyish grin, “and there are times when I need to just let all that go and I really want to give myself permission to do that.”
Of the nearly four million who have lost their jobs since the recession began, 78% are male. And some sociologists say that they’re hurting more than women.
Ron Paul: We're missing the point
There's been a lot more finger-pointing on Capitol Hill over the AIG bonuses.
But who is ultimately responsible and why did no one see this coming?
Congressman Ron Paul says it's because no one's reading these bills.
He joined us live.
Banking on women in recession
As the recession deepens, guess who’s fast becoming the best friend of American businesses?
American women.
Companies have long known that women often make the buying decisions for the household. But unemployment now is soaring much higher among men than women, which means women now control even more of what gets spent.
By one measure 80% of consumer spending is attributed to women. They control as much as 85% of household spending on everyday items. And they buy more than half of the new cars. Statistics like these are getting the attention of American’s corporations.
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