BusinessWeek 'Recession in America' Blog Goes Belly-up

As an attempt to find a new and innovative way to spread the doom-and-gloom news associated with the economic downturn, BusinessWeek magazine launched a recession blog on its Web site back in May to give a personalized glimpse into "recession" hardships.

"This blog is one of the places we'll tell these stories," BusinessWeek.com reporter Tim Catts wrote on the blog's first post on May 2. "Here, we'll jump into the conversation about where the economy is and where it's going. Yes, sometimes we'll look at the latest data. Sometimes we'll share observations from the road. The goal is to give readers real stories about how the downturn is affecting individuals, businesses, and communities."

However, activity on the blog has been scarce of late. Nearly three months later, there are just 22 posts. Meanwhile, the nation's Gross Domestic Product grew at a 1.9 percent pace for the second quarter of 2008, according to government estimates announced July 31.

The blog has only been updated three times since June 4. The last post was made on July 3 by John A. Byrne and focused on the ailing job market.

But, some in the media are pointing toward an economy on the mends. On CNBC's July 30 "Mad Money," nearly a year after his on-air meltdown about Fed monetary policy and the pending repercussions -some of which turned out to be true - host Jim Cramer called the bottom to the stock market. He said it occurred on July 15 and things are rebounding - a sign which could be interpreted as an improving economy.

"It smells to me like something, in fact many things, have at last changed for the better," Cramer said.