Active Gray Matter » recession http://activegreymatter.org Create Options, not Obstacles Fri, 11 Jun 2010 17:50:24 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 2009: Start Your Business http://activegreymatter.org/2009/01/2009-start-your-business/ http://activegreymatter.org/2009/01/2009-start-your-business/#comments Mon, 05 Jan 2009 21:59:54 +0000 Krishanna http://activegreymatter.org/?p=252 VIA Forbes.com

A video about how recessions breed new companies and advice for nascent businesses.

]]> http://activegreymatter.org/2009/01/2009-start-your-business/feed/ 0 Recession’s Impact on People with Disabilities http://activegreymatter.org/2008/12/recessions-impact-on-people-with-disabilities/ http://activegreymatter.org/2008/12/recessions-impact-on-people-with-disabilities/#comments Mon, 08 Dec 2008 20:58:49 +0000 Randy http://activegreymatter.org/?p=199 Continue reading →]]> Today’s news is mostly about the marketplace. Buying and selling goods or services, the opportunity to create (or lose) wealth, is how the American dream is defined. Gainful employment in the market place, where goods and services are exchanged for money, is how the vast majority of Americans approach creating a stream of revenue sufficient to meet present daily living expenses and to be able to set enough aside to retire in the future without having to work. We refer to the revenue stream as a pay check.

When talking about the economy, we are referring to the management of the resources of a community or country in the expenditure or consumption of money or materials. The foundation of the American economy is usually understood to be based on construction, transportation, and farming, and there is a vast array of ancillary companies that produce and funnel goods and services into these industries.  Even when the American economy is thriving and growing, there will be a certain percentage of able-bodied people who are unemployed, and searching for work.

According to US News & World Report:

The disparity in employment between people with and without disabilities has already been growing. In 2007, according to last month’s Disability Status Report, only 36.9 percent of working-age individuals with disabilities were employed. The year before, it was 37.7 percent. But the employment rate of people without disabilities, at 79.7 percent, didn’t change. {emphasis mine} (via Disability News)

Bad news about the economy continues to multiply. Banks failing, large corporations filing for bankruptcy, job losses in the thousands every day, home foreclosures on the rise, the wealth of the stock market down by more than 50%, and government services drastically cut. This is a very simple and brief overview of very important issues that we in the community who live with an impairment must make sense of, as these facts effect our ability to integrate with the larger community of able-bodied workers.

Next: Understanding History and Least Eligibility

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