Funeral cost-cutting boosts cremations

In the United States the recession has not only caused the fact that people are saving on living expenses but also on their dying expenses. More and more people economize on their funerals by not hiring limousines and cutting back on wakes and embalming. They also start to prefer cremations above burials, since a cremation can be up to $4000 cheaper.

Passing away is simply not a choice and you also can’t choose to postpone the expenses caused by it. And when there are no funds available for a traditional funeral, people choose something less expensive.

While the average funeral cost at Hollomon-Brown general Home and Crematory is $8500, the cost of a cremation is between $3000 and $5000. This has a clear effect on the figures National Vital Statistics Department shows. In 2006, about 34% of deaths in the United States were cremated in 2006. If we keep following the current evolutions that number will be 40% in 2010 and even 60% in 2025.

Some people just stick with funerals. Though they try to find measures to save some money. For instance it’s possible to have the visitation the same day of the funeral instead of having it the night before. This measure can save you up to $600. It’s also possible to not opt for a limousine service, which can save you $375. Another popular measure is skipping the viewing which makes it legal to skip the embalming also. Embalming can cost $500 to $700.

Moloney, co-owner of Long Island, N.Y.-based Moloney Family Funeral Homes says that he and his colleagues are doing everything they can to help bring down the costs. Though that’s not really simple because of the utility costs that are going up in the meanwhile.

This article really shows how big the impact of the economical crisis really is. How cruel it sounds, people are even forced to economize on burying family. Since I don’t have got any experience with arranging a funeral, I was really shocked when I saw the average price of $8500 for a funeral.

It’s a good thing that owners of funeral companies try to help out customers as much as possible by cutting in certain elements. Nevertheless a funeral stays really expensive and since you can’t really postpone it I hope the crisis will end soon.

Source: http://money.cnn.com/2009/04/02/news/economy/recession_funerals/index.htm?postversion=2009040212

Honda makes cuts in North America

As a result of the bad sales figures, Honda has created a program of cost cutting measures in North America. Honda employs more than 30,000 workers in the US and has already announced 3,100 job cuts and a reduced production by 56,000 vehicles in Japan.

The program includes five factors. First of all, they will cut pay. Secondly, factories will be closed for 13 days. Further, Honda will reduce its production by 62,000 vehicles. Fourthly, bonuses will be cut. Finally, an improved retirement packages will be offered, but basis pay will not be changed.

Comparing to March 2008, the sales figures in Japan were 24.5% higher than March 2009. But Honda is not the only carmaker who’s suffering from the financial crisis. The situation of other Japanese carmakers is worse. For example, the sales figures of the biggest carmaker of the world, Toyota, decreased 31.9%. Toyota took measures in the UK; employees have to work less hours. This resulted in a basis pay cut of 10%. Toyota also decided to close its production plant for four months.
The measures taken in the US are less drastic. Toyota only announced production cuts at several plants hoping to reduce its stock of cars.

According to me, Honda and other carmakers hadn’t no other choice to take these measures. These area is suffering from the economic crisis. Decisions have to be taken to make the situation of today better. These measures have bad consequences, but in my opinion everything is better than a failure of a carmaker.


Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7975920.stm

New Economy in the Rural Northwest?

Booming timber towns with three-shift lumber mills are a distant memory in the densely forested Northwest. Now, with the housing market and the economy in crisis, some rural areas have never been more raw. Mills keep closing.

People keep leaving. Unemployment in some counties is near 20(!) percent.

Yet in parts of the region, the decline is being met by an unlikely optimism.
Some people who have long fought to clear-cut the region’s verdant slopes are trying to reposition themselves for a more environmentally friendly economy, motivated by changing political interests, the federal stimulus package and sheer desperation.

So far the good news. I understand the government is trying to help unemployed people by creating jobs, but this is a waste of money and effort according to me.
Before I turn down the whole idea, it might be easier to be something more specific about the plans.

The general idea is to create jobs and help the environment in one action.
Unemployed loggers are looking for work thinning federal forests, a task for which the stimulus package devotes $500 million; the goal is to make forests more resistant to wildfires and disease. I really can not believe it.

$500 million… $500 million for thinning federal forests.

In a region with an unemployment of almost 20%, they are giving $500 million for thinning federal forests.

It is good that the government wants to invest in orde to give unemployed people a decent job of course and it is even better that they are helping nature in the same way but there must be other ways to invest those $500 million.
Even if we presume that you can put more than half the people of that 20 percent to work, those jobs will only be created on short-term. It would be much better to invest on long term.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/29/business/energy-environment/29forests.html?pagewanted=2&em

Protectionism or free trade?

The world is slipping dangerously into protectionism, threatening to strangle global economic recovery, the World Trade Organization said. WTO, in its stern advisory, also has communicated that the effect of protectionist measures by some countries would be devastating for our society. The effect: far-reaching consequences, for instance; measures will strangle the international trade and hinder the global recovery, are hard to avoid.

The WTO is bent to step up its monitoring of trade policies introduced by governments struggling to cope with the worldwide economic crisis.

WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy said free trade has suffered "significant slippage" this year as countries have established new barriers to import, for instance tariffs, subsidies and other measures designed to protect domestic industries.
Lamy also requested the government to avoid trade restricting and distorting measures otherwise the restrictions could gradually suffocate international trade.

Furthermore the WTO catalogued higher tariffs, new on-tariff barriers and more resort to trade defence measures, which increased by a quarter in 2008. Besides the actions of the major traders, that restrict the import of footwear, offer assistance to the domestic car industries, are hazardous. They will create a situation of uncompetitive industries and sectoral overcapacity.
As well as higher border barriers decrease the impact of fiscal and financial stimulus packages. These packages serve for stimulating the aggregate demand.
The WTO announced earlier this week that commercial activity was expected to shrink by 9 percent this year, the worst collapse since World War II.

According to me, we have to encourage free trade because of its advantages. First and foremost in case of free trade companies produce low-priced products and products of superior quality. Secondly the prosperity will increase. On the other hand protectionism boosts the employment and the ‘infant industry’, they have the possibility to develop into market leader.

Written by Marie Maes

Source: The Financial Times
Article: WTO warns against protectionism
Published: March 27, 2009
By Frances Williams in Geneva

Obama tells banks 'work together'

This week President Obama has met with top US bankers to discuss with them about his new plan to stabilize the US financial system and to boost the economy.

Obama told the bankers that they were in this together and that he wants the bankers to show some restraint, he wants the bankers to show that everyone has to make sacrifices and not only the normal people. After the meeting all bankers were optimistic and they said that their problems would be solved but it would take some time and they have to work hard, but they already see results that some measures are really working. They also said that the money spent on stimulating and saving the economy is spent wisely.

The chief executive of Goldman Sachs said there are three measures necessary to turn the economy around ; stimulating the economy, stop the fall in asset prices and fixing the financial system.

The plan Obama talked about is called The “Public-Private Investment Programme” where the US government will work together with banks and private investors. The plan is designed to buy up to $1 trillion worth of toxic assets to help repair the banks’ balance sheet. But another part of the plan is an outline of a far-reaching plan to strengthen government authority over the US financial system. All the measures discussed here are designed to prevent a new financial crisis like we notice today.

I think this is one of the best measures that Obama could take because the financial sector is the most important part of the economy, when you fix the main point you can fix the other sectors too. It’s also good that those top bankers want to help Obama, but on the other hand this is normal because they are one of the factors that caused the financial crises. I also hope that these measures restore the confidence of the people in the financial sector, especially after what happened by AIG a week ago…

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7968705.stm