Bankrupt Offices from Photographer Phillip Toledano

View more of photographer Phillip Todedano's Bankrupt Offices series here.

Traders in The Rough

Check out this blog that centralizes photos of Traders in less-than-stellar standing...

it's a bit more in London

It's difficult to avoid- this financial panic. Although we are certainly feeling it in NYC- neighbors and friends losing their jobs, "How do you sign up for unemployment? Do they make you go to workshops and stuff?" (They do). Bars offering state-of-the-economy drink specials. Vogue, Vanity Fair...W...New York- have designed their features on buying items as investments, or economic facts and figures.

And yet this masochistic system is pushing staple item prices to rise. A slice is $3.00 at the go-to joint in my neighborhood, up from $2.25. My Chinese launder recently raised his rate from $0.60/per pound to $0.80/per pound for drop-off wash and fold service. And to be honest, I still won't do my own laundry, in fact the raise has made me reconsider the $0.90/per pound for pick up and delivery.

Curiously, we are asked to celebrate the shortcomings of our neighbors to the East: beyond the consideration of the US economy, is the situation pushing its way to the surface in the UK. As the UK is much less transparent than that of the US, it is only recently becoming clear to the general public that they are sitting on a sweltering mess of bad loans. Financial historian Niall Ferguson confirmed, "The good news is that London seems to be handling this crisis slightly worse than New York. My sense is that the great financial crisis we're living in will fundamentally tilt the balance of the world."

Despite the talk of redundancies in the UK, I do not think the credit crunch has fully gripped them yet. Their economy is heavily reliant on housing and although this is one of the biggest hit sectors, I suspect that the UK will most likely not slip into recession until Christmas, perhaps a little later, and with that- the associated job losses that recessions entail.

--With all this expressed, I come to the crowning moment of my day (which was not the homeless guy chasing me down the street screaming obscenities after I corrected that I did not have a cig or a quarter...)

---I glanced up from the calendar and numbers to take in a trader:

Hunched forward. The blue glow of Bloomberg on his face, he put his hands into his hair and squeezed, "This is the least amount of fun I've had in a while."

Image: bbc.com/uk
Facts: CNBC, NY Mag, W Mag, BBC

notes on economy, politics

Recent polls have been popping up and ping-ponging about: on whether or not the American public feels that Sarah Palin would be able to take part in running the country. Last weekend I came across an online vote via PBS that was sitting at 49% yes, 49% no (....).

---

When asked, Christie Brinkley offered her own thoughts, " I don't believe that skinning a mouse has ever been a requirement for running our country. Although if she ends up running our country, we will all need to learn how to skin a moose, with the way our economy is going."

---

*golf clap*

Image: UK Telegraph

Quote: ny mag.

how the value changes- forty years in nyc.

Box seats at Yankee Stadium, Then: $4, Now: $250
Frozen Hot Chocolate from Serendipity, Then: $1.75, Now: $8.50
Hamburger at the 21 Club, Then: $5/Now: $30

Pack of Marlboros, Then: $0.35/ Now: $9
Martini at the Algonquin Hotel, Then: $1.25/Now: $18
Room at the Waldorf-Astoria, Then: $18.43, Now: $559
One pound of Nova Scotia Lox, Then: $9.94, Now: $34

Prices are not adjusted to inflation. What you see is what you paid. The details span over forty years and the stats were inspired by NY Mag.

the word on The Street

"Look over your city and weep, for your city is dying"
-Henry James, author of the novella Washington Square.

good bye, masters of the universe

This week's New York magazine is wonderfully delicious! Indulge yourself in the political briefing of the Obama campaign versus the McCain-Palin train wreck, and The Rage of the Previously Rich...

"...Friday, September 12, as Lehman's stock flatlined at $3.65 per share...The eight colleagues, friends really, stood around glowing Bloomberg terminals as the $700 Barbaresco was poured into paper cups. A crowd formed. Champagne was brought out " (28).

photo series: braddock, pa

Images of Braddock- a borough in Eastern Pittsburgh. The stop in Braddock was unplanned. A few road signs led to a detour. My grandmother replied with a raised brow, "You didn't get out of the car, did you?"

The post-apocalyptic feel is overwhelming- I simply had to snap a Braddock series. There is a distinct motif of forgotten structure and discarded projects. I looked a little deeper-
Photo- snap shot by my father- Vadim & myself.
The first industrial plant was put into motion in 1850- at one point bustling- the 1984 collapse of the steel industry marked a crumbling of Braddock's economy.
The erasure of the steel industry, coupled with the crack-cocaine epidemic that swarmed in the 1980's very nearly (if not certainly, as it appears) destroyed the community. Gutted buildings and high violent crime rates define the climate and lack of economic opportunity.
In 2005, Mayor John Fetterman began to focus on stimulating growth by attempting to attract new residents from urban, creative and artistic backgrounds. There is most certainly a place for residents of these backgrounds, (as myself and Vadim were immediately drawn to the exhausted, empty grit). I view Braddock as a Red Hook in the making.

while on the subject

On the plus side, there are hundreds of billions of dollars sloshing around the world's sovereign wealth and private equity funds just looking for something to do once the equity markets finally hold their cathartic blowout.

-Tom Bemis
Assistant Managing Editor, Market Watch

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Conversation via gchat-
zonker3m: about time you professed your love for me

me: love.

zonker3m: i was on the verge of giving up and moving on

me: hahah you just want a green card!

Sent at 10:27 PM on Tuesday

zonker3m: no, now I just want to get into your pants...who in his right mind would want to go in the US? Lehman Bros and Meryl (sic) Lynch are going down...

me: they are down

zonker3m: this is the end of America as we know it

soon you will be part of the USSR

me: fyi....media connection that slow in bulgaria?...it's a miracle you have it.

zonker3m: they are down but still around

so...

it's your turn now to chase me for an EU citizenship

me: actually, that's not bad idea

zonker3m: especially now that Ukraine is screwing up its chances for EU membership and cuddling with Putin

words on the climate

In the office-

"As you probably know, you don't have to update the Lehman"

--

Third party response,

"You could buy Lehman right now with what you have in your purse"

"Seven dollars?"

"Probably have change left over to buy soup"

the Villa is yours, for one Euro.

A stretch of 3700 decaying villas in Western Sicily are being sold for a Euro a piece- What's the catch?

Buyers must restore the Villas within two years- using the talents of local builders, plumbers, etc. The Mayor of Silemi organized the effort with the intent of stimulating the economy and restoring the historical beauty of the original architectural standards.

To buy: +1 39 924 991 111

Facts, Photo: National Geographic Traveler