Before I left for Thailand one of my coworkers joked to me that hopefully I'd have an economy to come back to, and then we both laughed uneasily. Some business news trickled through into my consciousness while I was trying to get updates on the situation at the airport over there, none of it good of course. And then in quick succession upon my return last week came the news that the Bank of England had cut interest rates to 2%, the lowest they'd been since 1951, and then that the US was losing jobs at the fastest rate in 34 years. Dan Milmo reported on the grim American statistics for the Guardian:
Today's announcement brings the jobless total to 10.3 million people
out of a total workforce of 154.6 million. Economists believe the
unemployment rate will peak at between 8.7% and 9.8% over the next two
years. "We are going to see the labour market remain very, very weak
throughout the remainder of this year and 2009. It hinges on the
monetary and fiscal response," said Ryan Sweet, senior economist at
Moody's economy.com.
My brother just got home from three years in the Peace Corps in Africa this Wednesday, ready to look for a job and an apartment, and this is what we present him with. Perhaps in an attempt to cheer up its readers and show that 1951 and its 2% interest rate wasn't all that bad, the Guardian has published a fun gallery of photos from that year marking some high points in movies, architecture, music and other culture. It's true that a picture of Audrey Hepburn like the one above will never fail to make me feel better.
