Category: Miscellaneous

If you have been a regular reader of this blog then you may remember my newsletter back in April where I wrote about my grandmother (we called her “Gramme”) and the inspirational conversation I shared with her.  It is with great sadness & pride that I must report her passing back on November 22nd.  She was a very special lady to me and to all her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and friends.  Here is her obituary that appeared in the paper in case you’d like to learn more about her.

Swanson, Irene Ethel 93 07/22/1917 11/22/2010 Irene passed away Nov. 22, 2010, in Beaverton, her home for over 50 years. Born near Ipswich, S.D., the youngest of seven children, Irene moved to Oregon as a newlywed in 1938. She married her high school sweetheart, Richard M. Swanson, who died in 1976. Growing up during the Great Depression set her standard for hard work, frugality, determination, independence, loyalty to family and friends, and her ability to make an unsurpassed lemon meringue pie. She was an avid gardener. Irene was proud of her association with the start of the Loaves & Fishes program in the Beaverton area. Friends and patrons of the Stuhr Senior Center knew Irene was always ready to meet newcomers or to be a fourth at the bridge table. She was a longtime, active member of Bethel United Congregational Church. Irene is survived by her children, LaDene York (Frank), Dixie Elliott, and Richard Swanson (Sue); six grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren. A special thanks to Hearthstone of Beaverton and Odyssey Hospice for their exceptional care. A celebration of life will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 11, 2010, in Bethel UCC, 5150 S.W. Watson St., Beaverton, OR 97005. The family suggests in lieu of flowers, please consider donations to one of the following: The Stuhr Center Foundation for class scholarships or Bethel Church Micro Loan Ministry.

You may have heard on the news this morning that the Senate DID NOT approve a spending bill that would have appropriated funds to extend unemployment benefits.  For those who are currently without work this news is likely concerning.  For those who are concerned about the mounting government deficit this news is probably reassuring.  Regardless of your position on this particular issue I found THIS ARTICLE in the Economist magazine last week and thought I would share it.  The article makes the argument that stingier unemployment benefits encourage out-of-work citizens to get more creative inf finding a new job.  Critics would argue, however, that the expiration of unemployment benefits marks the end of consumer demand funded by those benefits.  Nevertheless, the article makes and interesting argument.  Here are some excerpts:

*America’s UI payments are usually stingier and more short-lived than their equivalents in Europe and Canada. That is not necessarily a bad thing: it is one reason why America’s unemployment rate is also usually lower.

*In theory, more generous payments discourage some of the unemployed from taking jobs right away, while encouraging some who might have given up the search to keep looking—and thus be counted as unemployed. JPMorgan Chase estimates that this may have raised the unemployment rate by 1.5 percentage points.

*Two researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco found that jobless workers who qualify for benefits have been unemployed, on average, only 1.6 weeks longer than those who don’t. They reckon that the more generous payments have raised the unemployment rate by only a mere 0.4 percentage points.