Following my previous posts (here and here), here is another good discussion on how Class of 2009 cope with the toughest job market in years, from my favorite On Point with Tom Ashbrook.

Graduates at the University of Pennsylvania's commencement ceremonies in Philadelphia on Monday, May 18, 2009. (AP)

Click on the graph for the interactive map.

(source: AP)

Is the stimulus plan by Chinese government sustainable? Two sides of the story.

A nice discussion on American consumers and the implication of their changing behaviors on the economy.

Today's NYT reports:

Credit cards have long been a very good deal for people who pay their bills on time and in full. Even as card companies imposed punitive fees and penalties on those late with their payments, the best customers racked up cash-back rewards, frequent-flier miles and other perks in recent years.

Now Congress is moving to limit the penalties on riskier borrowers, who have become a prime source of billions of dollars in fee revenue for the industry. And to make up for lost income, the card companies are going after those people with sterling credit.

Banks are expected to look at reviving annual fees, curtailing cash-back and other rewards programs and charging interest immediately on a purchase instead of allowing a grace period of weeks, according to bank officials and trade groups.

The author at IMF attributed the reason to the fact that Asian countries specialize too much in advanced manufacturing. This is in sharp contrast to China, which specializes in low-end manufacturing.

I call China’s ability to weather this financial storm, “the Walmart Effect”, where during economic recession, the demand for necessity goods tends to decline less than the demand for durable and (or) luxury goods.

Another reason, as I discussed previously, is that China’s export sector plays a much smaller role in China’s GDP growth than commonly thought.

Anyway, the graphs below are stunning (graph courtesy of IMF):

(click to enlarge; source: IMF)

You can read the full presentation of the titled research here.

NYT’s economics reporter, who had written many pieces on subprime mortgages and the “liar loans”, told a vivid personal story of how he foolishly got into a mortgage he couldn’t afford and ruined his personal finance.

My Personal Credit Crisis

(added on May 19, 2009): Now you can listen to the same story from On Point with Tom Ashbrook.

Talking about tax increase is taboo in America. But the current sharp rise of budget deficits and government spending will, sooner or later, make tax increase inevitable. My sense is that not only the top earners will see a tax hike, but the tax increase will be much broader than what Obama Administration had promised.

(graph courtesy of Big Picture)