By Anastasia Economides and Karina Ioffee

The economy may be in a freefall, but tourists from all over the world are continuing to flock to New York City. They come for the iconic sites such as the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, and of course, the world-famous shopping in Times Square.

The euro exchange rate plummeted this summer and has not fully recovered.

Although the value of the euro against the dollar has fallen since July, European tourists especially are still finding good deals in the Big Apple.

 In Times Square, German tourist Nicolas Wallens said he booked his ticket earlier this year, and despite the financial turmoil, never considered canceling.

Nicolas Wallens, Tourist

Seventeen-year-old Charlotte, who is visiting from England, said she had been planning to splurge on some clothes while in New York. Now, she says, she has to be a bit more careful with her money.

Charlotte, Tourist

Tour guides are also singing the blues. At the Empire State Building, Selemi Adediq, 30, an agent for CitySights NY, a tour bus company, said that he had sold only three tickets by 4pm on a recent Friday. And because Adediq’s income is based on commission, less tickets means less money in his pocket.

Selemi Adediq

Selemi Adediq, Tour Guide

For more information on how tourism has declined over time, check out the December report from the New York City Economic Development Corporation.

To a large extent I have cut down on some expenses since school started and I stopped making real money. But there is still health expenses, and living expenses which take a huge cut out of my monthly budget. Obviously there are things I could do to pinch pennies, but truthfully I just don’t think to do it. 

I’m not sure if it was just something I’ve never thought to do, but I sure know I was never taught to do it. There was always a sort of “figure it out on your own” mentality in my family.  

I figured out credit cards really quickly on my own when I took out a bunch at the tender age of 18 and one month and spent a lot of money I didn’t have. Still paying one of them off seven years later. 

Yet in times of economic crisis, a person’s savings become incredibly important to livelihood. When push comes to shove that’s what is going to help people get through. 

I hear about my friends in severe debt from school, or credit cards and I wonder, is it an American thing? or a generational thing? 

The Times has a great interactive series on the crisis called “The Debt Trap.” The series includes an amazing graph that shows most Americans have an average savings of $392 dollars per year and around $120,000 per year in debt. What? That’s insane to me. 

CUNY’s own Barbara Raab has some good things to say about saving money, but she also notes that it isn’t easy being thrifty.

 I think the solution is really to start teaching people about money, credit, and saving at a young age. I know that a class in high school on this stuff would have helped me much later on. 

But maybe the recession will force us all to re-evaluate our spending habits, and when we (if we) ever get the economy back to into an upswing I’ll be sure to put some money in the bank and keep it there. Hopefully there are lessons here we can take to heart and actually remember. 

Until then we always have the sage-like Suze Orman to help us. 

Janet Pritchard was pleased Wall Street was taking such a tough hit.

“It means the yuppies won’t be able to come and buy here,” Ms. Pritchard 44, said as she walked down the promenade in Brooklyn Heights with her 5-year-old son. “I have been living here for 10 years, I own my house outright, so personally I feel very safe.”

Down the road in Boerum Hill, Chris Mendoca, 33, said he hadn’t paid too much attention to the recent news.

“There are overpriced condos going up on every street corner, and rents are still skyrocketing, it doesn’t seem to be effecting much here,” Mr. Mendoca said. “My biggest concern is the price of gas, I don’t take the subway, so I hope that the price comes down a little,” he said.

Others thought there was reason to be concerned.

 “We should all be holding on to our seats,” said Don, 54, who declined to give his last name citing his position at the Federal Reserve. “I don’t think this neighborhood will feel the effects immediately, but they should be scared. All their money is in their million dollar homes, and guess what, when they need to sell, the buyers aren’t going to be there. Just watch what happens this week, it should have them shaking,” he said.

 Outside the courthouse Troy Griffith, 36, reiterated this sentiment.

 “I think the crisis will have a trickle down effect,” Mr. Griffith said. “The folks in this neighborhood will see it when their dollar doesn’t go as far, and when their houses don’t sell. It will be a rude awakening,” he said.

Robin Kahn, an agent for Corcoran, has a more upbeat attitude about the housing markets in the area.

 “I believe these neighborhoods will hold their value.  As long as people price their homes reasonably, they will sell. The greatest challenge I have, is convincing sellers their expectations might be too high,” Ms. Kahn said. 

A large portion of my CD population consists of senior citizens.  As the older, wiser generation, I figured these people, who have experienced the cost of living rise and fall while presidents came and went, may have a more reliable outlook on how we’re faring out.   

Are we really going through some rough times?  Can it be compared to the Great Depression? I spoke with three elders who went through the Depression and all agreed that life is definitely more difficult today.

92-year-old Betty Priori from Sunnyside is a retired furrier who worked until the age of 73.  She was first pushed into the working world during the Depression when her family faced foreclosure.

She said that life is harder today in that people need more money. “My children almost lost their home, but thank god their mortgage was paid.  My daughter is working two jobs, I expected them to have an easier life.”

Annabel, 91, who withheld her last name, recalls her mother taking care of four children.  Her father died of the influenza epidemic. 

“Whatever she gave us, we ate.  Sometimes it would be a box of sardines” for dinner, she said.  Annabel added that other times it may be tomato herring, which would be sold as two pieces for a dime, and with those two pieces, her mother would make four sandwiches out of them.

She believes it isn’t any better today financially and continues to accommodate.  “I don’t complain, if I can’t afford it, I don’t buy it,” she said.  Annabel is worried about her Medicare, and doesn’t believe it should be privatized, as it is hard enough for people to come up with money to pay for insurance, according to her.

 During the Depression, Carmelo Deprima earned nickels by shining shoes in Manhattan.  He is now dependent on his Social Security check to pay for rent, which increased in the past few months.

Here is Deprima comparing shelter and food needs back then and now:

In light of the financial situation, when Deprima is not eating reduced-fare meals from the senior center, he makes soup. “My [late] wife used to cook…now I cut down on cold-cuts and Entenmanns’s cake.” 

Yet, when referring to the younger generation, he predicts the cost of living will only get worse.  “I feel sorry for you people.  I’m glad at least I already have one foot in the grave.”  

Self-inflicted implies that I may have played a direct role in the current economic turmoil. I have not had the chance to set up shop to supply a demand in the service industry other than my small world of hand-to-mouth activities. I have been able to participate as a consumer and through the years I have consciously moved slowly, carefully considering wants versus needs. For example, I want the new digital camera system and it’s excellent new line of lenses- I need a back up hard drive for the files my current camera has already created.

Lately in thinking a bit more about this basic idea of wants versus needs, I have re-considered my eating habits. Do I need to eat a steak? What is the real cost behind the dollar value to the food I want to consume? Where are the cows coming from? In what conditions do they live? What can the people near the cow farms afford to eat?

This idea was probably born after watching a documentary made in Africa directed by Hubert Sauper. The film is appropriately called “Darwin’s Nightmare” and introduces a microcosm to the capitalist trend of consumption. Darwin’s Nightmare sheds light on a delicacy fish, the Nile perch which thrives in Tanzania’s Lake Victoria, the largest tropical lake in the world. The fish was dropped into the lake in the 1950’s in order to farm the fish and export lavish fillets into European markets. Through the years the perch fed on the native fish diminishing the food supply of the local communities of fishers.

You can begin to see how the story unfolds; many were left with little food and had to resort to feed off the perch carcasses thrown away by the packing company, the film has a scene where women and children dig around maggot infested fish bones for food.

So the situation here is this- while some nice family sits over a beautiful, healthy fillet, the local community where that fish comes from feels a direct impact- poverty and starvation.

So back to my thoughts, what are the needs I have and what are the wants?
Who are the communities involved, how are they negatively affected by my buying power.

So how can I take these thoughts into action? Baby steps. I try to support the independent farmer as much as I can by going to the farmers markets. Even though it costs more, I support organic farms. I love the fact the my eggs come from chicken that walked even if it went nowhere, nonetheless defined “free-range.”

I feel that my buying power is what makes me a participant in the economy.

I also encountered a very similar reaction from a low-income local while working my beat in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Martin D. said “We didn’t own nothing before, we’re not gonna own nothing now.”

But responsibility lies on all of us who live in capitalistic societies sitting back while others decide for us. I hate to admit this, but perhaps this is exactly what we need to wake up and consider our roles and errors in living beyond our means. What we can’t afford is elected leaders who make bad decisions.

This entry is in response to the blog posted by Mary Stachyra on Spetmeber 25, 2008

http://blogs.journalism.cuny.edu/interactivefundamentals/2008/09/25/our-economic-crisis-a-self-inflicted-wound/

Eventually protesters, journalists and onlookers began gathering at the site. The crowd of demonstrators included Socialists, members of Code Pink and other anti-war groups, and individual New Yorkers angered by the proposed government rescue of financial institutions. Spectators looked on curiously as cops advised people to stay out of the street.

Chants erupted spontaneously, such as, “We are pissed! Bail out this!” One man repeatedly yelled, “Don’t believe Bush’s lies! Don’t believe Paulson’s lies! Don’t believe Bernanke’s lies!” After about 40 minutes of chanting, mingling, drum-pounding and sign-waving at the terminus of Broadway, the protesters began to march toward Wall Street. For the most part they stayed on the sidewalk and the police didn’t hassle them. As they walked, many chanted “No deal for Wall Street, new deal for Main Street!”

I spoke with a woman who was walking from work to the subway in the midst of the crowd. Diane K., as she asked to be identified, empathized with the cause. “This is one protest I agree with, and I’m a conservative,” she said. “I’ve had it.”

Zelig Stern of the Socialist Party of New York City

Several protesters linked the economic crisis with the war in Iraq. John MacDougall, a member of a group called Peace Action and a veteran of the Korean War, said he was concerned that most Americans seem unaware of the economic consequences of the war. “I get worried about where the country’s going,” he said.

When the group arrived at the intersection of Wall Street and Broad Street, moving up the steps of Federal Hall and filling up the street between that building and the New York Stock Exchange, many yelled “No bailout!” repeatedly.

Protester Bobby Rodriguez, American flag in hand, criticized the federal government for its handling of the economy and other issues. “I think our founding fathers are turning over in their graves, and no one’s even reading the Constitution,” he said.

As the protesters held their signs aloft and chanted various slogans, a few Wall Street workers rushed to nearby subway entrances, some looking distinctly uncomfortable, others amused. One twenty-something guy in a suit yelled “Get a fucking job,” though this sentiment was drowned out by whatever the crowd was chanting at that moment.

Shane Miller, who works for a boutique trading firm, remarked that the stock exchange had already closed for the day before the protest arrived there. “They’re doing something for nothing,” he said. “They need to go to Congress — that’s where the bill is being worked on.”

A member of Billionaires for Bush who identified himself as “Rob DaPore” sipped what appeared to be champagne and responded to the protesters’ chants of “You broke it, you bought it!” with “We broke it, you bought it.”

Until I watched Rachel Maddow’s post-debate analysis show Friday night, I assumed that the protesters represented a small sliver of American public opinion. As a relatively cynical guy, I’ve come to see the population of this country as overwhelmingly apathetic even in the face of developments that affect their lives profoundly. However, I learned that the sentiments voiced by these street marchers actually reflected a wave of solid opposition to the plan among average Americans.

Now that Congressional leaders have apparently reached a deal, it remains to be seen whether this action will revive the financial services industry and the economy as a whole. If economic conditions worsen, Americans who view this deal as a handout to wealthy Wall Street institutions at the expense of taxpayers may not look too kindly on politicians who supported it.

UPDATE: The bailout bill did not pass on Monday. Some Republicans blamed partisanship, and Barney Frank ridiculed them. What I’ve heard from conservatives over the past week, including those who cried foul at Pelosi’s speech, is unbelievable. They don’t want to admit that their anti-regulatory ideology directly caused this crisis. Instead, some are blaming minorities.

Let’s start by admitting that I was not the most financially savvy individual. I was well into adulthood before I got rid of credit card debt and started putting money into a savings account. While people my age were putting down their first payment on an apartment, I was buying a copy of “Money for Dummies” and schooling myself on compound interest. I even forced myself to watch Suze Orman on Oprah. This was it, I thought. I was going to be responsible and save.

I finally did open that IRA account and religiously made monthly deposits. Then the market started slipping. My family and friends advised me not to pay too much attention to the IRA’s daily fluctuations while the market was going on a roller coaster ride of highs and lows.

“The market goes up as well as it goes down,” said my dad, peering through his glasses as he held his pint of beer on a cold winter evening. “This is a long term investment, and short term losses shouldn’t be taken to heart.”

Well, I took it to heart yesterday when I finally gathered the courage to look at my IRA portfolio. Little red downward arrows skipped across the page and thin lines on graphs sharply descended towards the right. “This is not good,” I murmured, as I looked at multiple losses across the board.

We carry certain expectations in this country. We’re told that if we go to school, work hard, and save and invest wisely, we’ll be okay. Even Suze Orman promised me that if I put in the maximum contribution towards my IRA, I’ll see it grow substantially.

I don’t know if that formula works these days. Is this just a larger-than-normal fluctuation in the overall scheme, or something bigger? Is this something unknown, something unprecedented? As for now, I’m losing money, not seeing it grow. The cable shows are filled with people asking money experts about how they can save their retirement funds. It’s been very unstable to say the least.

I walked around my community in Douglaston, Queens yesterday to gather reactions about the crisis on Wall Street. Many residents in the community work within the financial sector, and they were particularly hard hit by the corporate downfall.

“I know 15 people who lost their jobs,” said Kevin Earls, a broker dealer, who was waiting for the train.  “When Wall Street goes down, there’s a bad ripple effect. This is not a good thing.”

It wasn’t just the Wall Street folks who were feeling the effects of the crisis. I talked to one retired man in his 80s who was fearful about having to find a part-time job in order to support himself and his wife. His wife had just lost 14,000 dollars in annuities.

Arthur Adelman, another resident and a small business owner, was angry and frustrated about what was happening on Wall Street. ““[The] companies get the golden parachute,” he said, as he waited to take a train into Manhattan. “It’s the people in the trenches who lose their jobs and really suffer.”

I don’t want to be fearful, but I am concerned. I recently saw a documentary called I.O.U.S.A. It drives the message that America is on the brink of a financial meltdown. It’s scary stuff, but it is worth it to watch the film. Below is the trailer:

In the meantime, I’ll keep my money in my IRA, but I am weary and anxious. Perhaps I should give some thought to stuffing my retirement savings under my mattress. That, or invest in gold and canned goods.