Is Creativity The Upside Of A Down Econmoy?
The U.S. Postal Service, the nation's third largest employer, is down in the down economy. In the fiscal year ending September 2008 there were 9.5 billion fewer letters and packages mailed than the year before ' a loss of $2.8 billion. To save money the Postal Service adjusted routes, offered early retirement and reduced sorting facility hours from 24 to 18 hours a day. Through cutbacks 20,000 jobs were eliminated. If more cutbacks are necessary, small post offices may have to be closed and mail delivered only 5 days a week. Post offices won't be the same old 'stamping grounds'.
Because of the down economy, school districts all over the U.S. have cut or are planning to cut school bus service. According to a 2007 Congressional report, school busses account for 25% of school transportation; but they account for only 2% of school-transportation fatalities. According to the Pupil Transportation Operation and Management Institute, standard school busses carry 65-77 passengers. Thus every bus that's cut means 30-40 more cars on the road, which means increased risk of car accidents, as well as more fuel consumption, pollution and wear on the infrastructure. Obviously, cutting a school bus isn't good "bus-iness".
The down economy is causing funding crises for museums too. Staffs are being laid off and exhibits are being postponed. New York City's National Academy Museum resorted to selling 2 paintings to raise a much needed $15 million. Critics who believe museums are meant to safeguard art ' not art safeguard museums ' think the National Academy should have sold its prestigious 5th Avenue building, but that would have closed the museum. Now the museum has been blacklisted by the Association of Art Museum Directors and won't be lent works for special shows. The recession has taken the fun out of fundraising.
Finally, as many Americans struggle to pay for health care in a down economy, new hospitals are being built in Mexico. Hip and knee replacements, laser eye surgery and plastic surgery cost one-third to one-half what they cost in the U.S. Treatments for extreme obesity ' gastric bypass, gastric sleeves and lap-bands ' are the most sought after procedures. Lap-band surgery costing $16,000 - $18,000 in the U.S. cost $7,000 in Mexico. In 2007 Blue Cross and Blue Shield of South Carolina started offering benefits abroad. In 2008 the American Medical Association issued medical tourism guidelines. It seems surgery could be the new Mexican 'takeout'.
About the Author:
Knight Pierce Hirst has written for television. newspapers and greeting cards. Now she writes a 400-word blog three times a week. KNIGHT WATCH, a second look at what makes life interesting, takes only seconds to read at http://knightwatch.typepad.com