FICRY

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Tens of thousands of civilian contractors have aided U.S. war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Civilian contractors perform such indispensable tasks as “delivering fuel to frontline troops, guarding U.S. diplomats and translating for soldiers during dangerous raids.” In the process, many of these contractors have suffered devastating and physical and psychological injuries. However, ProPublica reports [...]

In a recent article for the Atlantic, Erik Thompson asks his readers: “Are we in a recession or a mancession?’” In the last two years 80% of all laid off workers have been men and male unemployment in almost every age demographic is at its post-war high. How can we account for this disparity? The [...]

In the past, America’s teenagers and students have occupied a unique place in the job market. They have served as our nation’s babysitters and camp counselors; they’ve flipped our burgers and delivered our morning papers.
Today’s financial crisis, however, has put the teenage demographic in a bit of a bind. As unemployment escalates, many laid-off adults [...]

While some on Capitol Hill will use this month’s slight drop in unemployment rate as evidence of the stimulus’ slow but steady success, their excitement may be overlooking a couple of key statistical details. First of all, while the rate of job loss has decreased from 9.5 to 9.4%, the number of unemployed Americans is [...]

In today’s financial crisis, 1 in every 9 Americans are feeding their families with stamps. There are currently 33.8 million Americans on food stamps– a number that far exceeds the the surge in food stamp users in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. In the past year, family participation in the food stamp program has increased [...]

Last week, The New York Times predicted the financial crisis would motivate a generation of young women to swear off careers in corporate America and and instead focus on entrepreneurship. These changes may be kicking in sooner then they envisioned. In the wake of the financial crisis, thousands of women are leaving corporate jobs to [...]

Sonja Kohn, former chairwoman of Austria’s Bank Medici AG, is currently under investigation for allegedly receiving kickbacks from Bernie Madoff. U.S., U.K., and Austrian investigators believe Madoff paid Kohn over $40 million to funnel billions of dollars in European investments into “feeder funds” for Madoff’s scheme. Officials estimate she supplied Madoff with up to $3.5 [...]

When the female experience makes the headlines of financial crisis news, it’s likely to be about sex workers out facing a slump in sales or hedge fund wives forced to trade in their plush penthouses. We’ve heard about the transition of corporate wives from fashionista to “recessionista,” buying cheaper bottles of wine while still maintaining [...]

Before today’s Supreme Court ruling, cable television viewership has been relatively unchanged by the FICRY. When Americans are unemployed, they tend to spend more time in front of the television, not less. After today, however, the television industry may be facing an unprecedented crisis. This morning, the Cable News Network lost a monumental Supreme Court [...]

James Amburn, a financial advisor in Speyer, Germany, was recently kidnapped and tortured by investors who blame him for losing £2million of their savings. As Amburn left his home, the kidnappers ambushed him, bound him in masking tape, and forced him into a car. After 300 miles of driving, they then led him into a [...]