Hard to believe we are still in a recession (Portland: apartment, health insurance)

[Newdaawn]

Yesterday while enjoying a day at Acadia and Bar Harbor, it was hard to beleive there is still a recession going on. People were spilling off the sidewalks and most restaurants were full. The cruise ship "Caribbean Princess" was docked right there in the harbor and the tenders were constantly back and forth to the dock. I think we counted at least 10 trips in the 45 minutes were sat and watched. Many of the people that came ashore boarded busses to various destinations within Acadia, ie Ocean drive, Southwest and Northeast Harbor or where ever. We saw at least 6 huge busses leave. I read that Bar Harbor had 119 cruise ships visit this season. Hopefully those guests spent lots of $$ money while on shore. I believe last evening the Caribbean Princess was on it's way to Boston. Perhaps that is where it's passengers boarded. They had great weather for their day in Maine. It was about 75, sunny and dry.

[mainegrl2011]

It does make you wonder...I doubt any of the 20+ million unemployed or underemployed in the U.S. were spending money in Bar Harbor or on the cruise ship. Maybe the people on the cruise ship are millionaires or retirees finally getting to go on a cruise that they have been planning for and saving for for a lifetime.

[michael_atw]

I find myself looking at the recession and thinking, "this whole thing is weird."

There are lots of people doing just fine - and lots of people who aren't. Personally, I find a good amount of the people I know who aren't doing fine either through their own intentional cause or accidentally put themselves there. They'd acknowledge it as well. Working a $9/hr. job and buying a car with $400 monthly payments is not a good way to get ahead.

My own opinion about the recession is that people are shooting themselves in the foot by incurring DEBT. Students go back to school to get more debt; people spending money they don't have; making stupid decisions that incur debt. I'm sure those Bar Harbor passengers are a mix of people who have made sure they can afford the trip and a mix of people who probably can't afford it but decided to do it anyways. I'd say they are more of the former (Mainer tourists generally aren't the same as say, Florida tourists).

[American girl]

A friend and I spent labor day weekend window shopping in Portland and Boston. Same thing. Stores packed and folks walking around loaded with bags. And if so many are without work why can't we fill jobs? We have a couple of good ones - full time with health insurance at no cost to the employee, but no applicants.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

People know they need the specific skills for a job. Many don't have any skills that are needed today. Trucking companies are looking for drivers. They have a hard time finding people that can pass a drug test. This is a problem in many industries. I know a lift truck driver who is working the harvest this year. He went over 200 miles to the packing plant because lift truck drivers need to pass a drug test, actually come to work every day and not destroy things with the lift truck. Years ago the average war body could do this. Now such a person is a rare commodity.

[mainegrl2011]

Originally Posted by michael_atw

I find myself looking at the recession and thinking, "this whole thing is weird."

There are lots of people doing just fine - and lots of people who aren't. Personally, I find a good amount of the people I know who aren't doing fine either through their own intentional cause or accidentally put themselves there. They'd acknowledge it as well. Working a $9/hr. job and buying a car with $400 monthly payments is not a good way to get ahead.

My own opinion about the recession is that people are shooting themselves in the foot by incurring DEBT. Students go back to school to get more debt; people spending money they don't have; making stupid decisions that incur debt. I'm sure those Bar Harbor passengers are a mix of people who have made sure they can afford the trip and a mix of people who probably can't afford it but decided to do it anyways. I'd say they are more of the former (Mainer tourists generally aren't the same as say, Florida tourists).

Some people may have borrowed the money to go on the cruise. I don't think students go back to school to get more debt. I think they view an education as an investment hoping it will pay off with a better paying job or career. They want to be prepared for the opportunity--trying to remain optimistic.

I think some people do things that they can't afford to escape reality/life circumstances even though the credit card debt eventually catches up with them one way or another.

Some people have lost hope of getting ahead and are trying to survive. How many people do you know who are working for $9 an hour and have a $400 car payment? Maybe all they can find is a $9 an hour job, maybe it is all they are qualified to do, maybe it's the only job available and they choose to work and they need a car to get to work. Are they also paying for an apartment or have a house payment or living with their parents? Do they have a spouse that works? Do they have a roommate to share the rent?

Please explain your comment in parentheses. Do you mean Mainers who are tourists in Maine, Mainers who are tourists in Florida? Are you talking about people from Florida who are tourists in Maine or people who are tourists in Florida? Are you talking about people on the cruise ship or visitors to Bar Harbor who weren't passengers on the cruise ship? Where did the cruise begin? Where are the passengers from?

[maineguy8888]

Interesting thread. I, too, think that for half of the people in this country, times are great. They have no real worries at all. But for a huge chunk of the other half, times are getting desperate (or already are).

[Mark S.]

Nitpick:

We aren't in a recession.

A "recession" is defined by certain criteria that we are no longer in. See:

http://www.investorwords.com/4086/recession.html A period of general economic decline; typically defined as a decline in GDP for two or more consecutive quarters. A recession is typically accompanied by a drop in the stock market, an increase in unemployment, and a decline in the housing market.

The recession has actually been over for a long while now.

That being said, the economy is certainly far from healthy. Still lots of problems. But it isn't a recession.

[Submariner]

The adjusted unemployment rate and the unadjusted rate are far different from each other [8.2% and 23%].

I spoke with my brother in California a few days ago, and I asked him how the refugee camps are doing in Stockton, Modesto, Fresno, San Jose, etc. Since we hear nothing about them on the news. He told me that our hometown airport had acquired a large parcel of land adjacent to the airport as a refugee camp, though it only has around 20k camped there. So it is one of the smallest homeless camps.

When I was out there a couple years ago, my plane flew over one of the larger tent cities. It is amazing the things that do not get covered by the Main-Stream-Media 'news'.

I suppose the topic is just too depressing. Like the need for 'adjusting' the unemployment numbers before releasing them for publishing.

[Kristin85]

I'm going to agree with Mark. We're not technically in a recession but we're living with a horrible economy with terrible unemployment+underemployment rates. GDP is propped up by low interest rates causing people to borrow & by the well-to-dos spending as they always have. I live in a wealthy community but even here it is easy to see the struggle that is going on. Family members are making less than $30,000/year and apply to tons of jobs every month but can't even get call backs. Another family member is working 2 part-time jobs and going back to school for a specialized degree to make ends meet. Meanwhile, the majority of my co-workers (not me!) make $200,000/year. It's crazy. Expect things to get worse, too. The Fed just announced that they will be buying back bonds & keeping interest rates low. That stimulates companies to spend but it also devalues the dollar which causes grocery prices, gas prices, etc. to rise. Times are only going to get tougher for the average Joe. The rich will keep spending (especially in Bar Harbor, haha) but those who don't already have cushy jobs or connections are going to be struggling even more.