Slate has posted a cool albeit completely depressing interactive map of vanishing employment across the country. (If you’re having a bad day already, maybe refrain from clicking through.) While we’re sure most our out-of-work friends won’t be so amused by watching the dominant color morph from blue (good) to red (bad), it has helped confirm a disaster plan we’ve been mulling over for a while: When shit hits the fan in it’s best to make like Heidi Montag and retreat to rural Colorado — preferably the town of Mesa where almost 600 jobs have been gained since February. She’s from Butte, which is slightly farther east, but whatevs.

Variety reports that “Fox has found a way to help struggling small businesses as they downsize in this tough economic climate. Sort of.” How so, you ask? A reality show about getting laid off. No, seriously. “The network has picked up the reality competish ‘Someone’s Gotta Go,’ which enters real businesses across the country and gives employees the power to decide which one of them will be terminated.” Read More »

[Via Apartment Therapy]

It’s rough out there right now. Worry is at an all time high. Young Wall Street professionals are taking Xanax and Lexapro more often than Adderal these days. We stare into the void everyday looking for answers, yet none come. What are we to do? According to Pastor Jay Bakker (son of televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye and star of IFC’s One Punk Under God) of the Revolution Church the answer is have faith. Read More »

As the recession spreads through European markets, EU leaders are scrambling to overcome the fault lines that threaten prospects for a unified recovery. Last week, a collective of Eastern European nations approaching EU leaders for a $240 billion bailout — only to be promptly shot down by an opposition charge from German chancellor Angela Merkel. Since then, currencies have fallen across the board, with the Hungarian florint and Polish zloty dropping 3 percent against the euro, and the euro itself continuing to fall against the dollar. Striking a balance between national interests and continent-wide initiatives has never come easily for Europe; underlying the difficulties are concerns about protecting jobs, recapitalizing banks, and preserving what remains of a fragile lending system.

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