I have a confession to make: I fight with my daughter almost every morning. Well, “fight” might be a strong word, but part of our morning ritual is to tussle over who gets the Business section of the paper. She is the household meteorologist (a word she learned in her first grade section on “community workers”), and – in this era of downsized newspapers – the weather map in the Los Angeles Times is found in the Business section. She usually wins, finds our neighborhood in the map and declares what we can expect for the weather today.
I look at the Business page because…..well, I guess I’m a glutton for punishment. Besides some obligatory stories on the latest techie tools that are going to revolutionize consumer electronics, here are a some sober headlines from the January 6 LA Times Business section:
“Lower number of new deals under contract shows shakiness in the housing recovery.”
“Mixed data on the recover stifle stocks.”
“Only 45% of workers are happy with their jobs, the lowest rate in 22 years, survey finds.”
“Banks take revenge for new consumer-protection rules”
The media has been looking for any good news where it can find it (worker productivity is up!), but unemployment is still high, housing and stocks are shaky, and workers and consumers are still taking it on the chin.
Here’s more bad news: I’m on my way to Chicago and the weather page says to expect a high of 23 degrees. However, when I get back to LA on Friday, it’ll be sunny and 72. I guess my daughter knows something I don’t: if you live in LA and want good news, check the weather.
Bill Pitkin 