Results tagged “recession”

Layoffs have been hanging over the heads of Harvard employees like the sword of Damocles since word of staff reductions started to circulate in February. Today, Harvard President Drew Faust let workers know that the string was about to snap, the sword was about to fall, and heads were about to roll. 275 heads, to be exact.

Got financial questions in this tough economic environment? Beth Kobliner, financial columnist and author of Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties,, will be in the Money Bus at City Hall today until 2:00 pm to counsel you on financial crises. Whether you have questions about credit cards, student loans, investments, or whether to keep your money in your mattress, she can help out. So bring your lunch (you do pack your own to save money, right?) to City Hall this early afternoon and get some advice from an expert.

If selling eggs isn't the recession solution for you, perhaps you'd prefer to spend money to make money. Reuters reports that folks are getting plastic surgery to look better for job interviews. Research has shown that good-looking folks earn more and are also more likely to get gigs, so the drastic action makes sense&dmash;though it is still quite a gamble. We still think you might do better to focus on developing your actual skills: after all, no one can see how good you look on paper.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. In an uncertain economy, people are turning to some of their most personal possessions for fundraising. No, not family heirlooms or precious collectibles; rather, folks are selling their sperm and eggs for profit. According to the Globe, both sperm and egg "donations" (legally, folks can't be paid for the reproductive materials themselves, but are compensated for their time and, er, efforts?) are up from 25 to as much as 100 percent over last year. Sanford Benardo of Northeast Assisted Fertility Group told the globe, "It's almost like an employment agency flooded with resumes but people aren't hiring so much." It makes some sense: these reproductive tools are present in excess, if not unlimited, supply, and can command good money (up to $10,000 for each egg donated; only $85 to $100 for cups o' sperm). Still, it's troubling that tough times may force people to give up a part of themselves out of desperation rather than desire, and give rise to biological children they may never connect with. And what's next: kidney donations? Folks cutting out their organs in the bathtub for a buck? Let's hope the economy turns around before we resort to fingers.

Does approving and building casinos guarantee new revenue? No. Ask Rhode Island.

• Apparently losing $8 billion can slow down even Harvard. The university is chilling on its Allston takeover... for now. [Herald]
• This is one retired cop we wouldn't mind cuddling with. [WCVB]
• Say "goodbye" to Saturn and Pontiac as GM phases them out. [NYT]

The economic news from New York has been as brutal and relentless as the Giants' pass rush in the Super Bowl. Once again, New England is scrambling and taking too many hits.

• Chicagoist snapped up some stunning images and a severe summer storm.
• LAist is still on the health beat. After following the regional city ban on new fast food restaurants, the county is proposing calorie counts on fast food menus.
• DCist caught an awkward but funny typo in the Associated Press story about conservative columnist Robert Novak's retirement after having been diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor.

About two weeks ago, we noted that Massachusetts doesn't measure up when it comes to funding its students. As if the lack of state aid weren't enough, the Globe reports that nonprofit lending agency Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority will not be providing private loans for students entering school this fall. The organization offered over $500 million in loans last year, so that's major money to make up. MEFA will continue to help families with college savings, and hopes to offer loans later this year.

--Investigators of the fatal Green Line D rear-end crash said they have not found evidence that driver Terrese Edmonds, who was killed, applied the brakes. [Boston Globe, Boston Herald]

--Thanks to the recession we're not in, teens will have fewer summer jobs. And bored teens sometimes become restless teens whom no one wants in their yards. [Boston Globe]