Ah, to have to scrape by on "only" $500,000 a year. Sigh. We all have to make our sacrifices.
Yogi brings up an excellent point. The endless media reports about this company going bankrupt or that one laying off 5,000 people just sends people into MORE of a panic, which causes them to spend even less, which makes the economy even worse. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.