this post was submitted on 31 Oct 2026
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After reading this news story that half of Americans are skipping meals because of affordability and a bad economy, I have to ask how are you all doing out there?

I heard from a real estate agent friend of mine that REOs, i.e. bank foreclosures on home mortgages, are going up like crazy, which is a sign of bad times, like the recession of 2007-08.

I have heard from others about rents not being paid, lack of jobs, etc.

Every day, there’s more news of corporate layoffs, moreso than usual.

I live in the economic bubble of the SF Bay Area, where tech wealth more-or-less insulates me and mine from the most serious consequences of a bad economy, but how are things elsewhere?

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[–] zlatiah@lemmy.world 3 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago)

Belgium. Personally, I have a job now so I feel fine, has a good bit of leftover money despite being on single salary. Salaries here are indexed against cost of living (not too many countries do this anymore), so anyone who is not living in the capitol can survive even on minimum salary; and in the capitol, yes with cohousing. People without a job are somewhat fucked though... yes the unemployment benefits are quite generous, but there simply aren't many jobs out there. Belgium has a competitive strength in pharmaceuticals but then last year there was a pretty notable company shutting down, and recently GSK let go of a large chunk of their R&D team. Things are not looking very bright

I guess this isn't what the topic is about but... macro-economics numbers seem functional? The fiscally conservative leading party implemented some budget cuts that were supposed to help, I'm not an economist so I can't say whether they helped but there certainly were lots of protests. GDP is slowly growing, not as fast as NL but the numbers are going up

Edit: Just saw the news that the PM (Bart De Wever) submitted an official request to the king to resign. I take it back, we ball I guess 😂