The downturn may finally shrink the gap between the very best-off Americans and everyone else. But if so, it won’t be by lifting up the bottom. It will be by pulling down the top. (Wall Street Journal)

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125254156520197777.html#mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsThird

Although as of 9/29/09, the AP says The recession has hit middle-income and poor families hardest, widening the economic gap between the richest and poorest Americans as rippling job layoffs ravaged household budgets. (Associated Press).  So now I’m confused.  I wasn’t confused AT ALL before this.

A few years ago, when cheap real estate was scarce, pop-up stores were a major investment for marketers. Now temporary stores have emerged as a perfect solution for cash-strapped brands, commission-hungry brokers and landlords faced with a glut of commercial real-estate space.

New site…worth checking out.   See me there soon.  Too many ideas.

For all the talk of reining in CEO pay and enacting financial reform — even from some CEOs themselves — it’s beginning to appear that very little has changed in the way companies are run and executives get paid. ( U.S. News & World Report).  Why aren’t we furious??!!??  Where is the accountability?  Anyone…?

A new site called Kickstarter.com allows (or will soon allow) people who need financing for small to mid-sized projects (huge ones too, I guess) or businesses to post project details to chum little pledges from everyday folks.  Small pledges maybe just a few dollars; the satisfaction of seeing the project take off: priceless.

They arent allowing everyone and their brother to post projects yet, but I’m told it is in the works.  You can check out some of the projects and donate right now.  One is to help a parapalegic try to climb Mt Kilimanjaro, another helped Polyvinyl Records save over 10,000 albums from being destroyed when their wherehouse space was in jeapardy.  I can envision anything and everything in between.  True perm temp stuff.

Many, if not most, of my temporary positions came from Craigslist.  It was a fine time to be a free-wheeler back at the turn of the milenium.  Those days have changed and maybe you should too.  JobPic.com offers an eBay style service posting service so YOU can TELL the world what you WANT to do, and YOU name the rate.  Will they pay you to come up with new cool band names, or to be their personal shopper, who knows.  Probably not.  Is it worth the 4 minutes it will take you to try?  Certainly.

In Fed We Trust: Ben Bernanke’s War on the Great Panic. Author David Wessel was quoted on BBCAmerica: “As for the Fed…the Fed is really played out”.

New book: In K-Fed we trust.