The numbers are up, the numbers are down, so goes the financial future of the US, but today the White House predicted a rise in unemployment over the next year. Originally they thought that unemployment would be around 4.7% but now they are forecasting 4.9%. Despite serious talk of a recession, the Bush administration is hopeful that things will improve.About a month ago, Russell Simmons decided to start educating young folks about the financial world in hopes they wouldn’t find themselves in the position many younger people find themselves when it comes to money and credit. His Hip-Hop Summit : Get Your Money Right took place in Detroit - check it out: On the flipside though, I can’t help but think of Gordon Gekko of Oliver Stone’s Wall Sreet and his take on all that is financial in our country :  

Gordon Gekko: The richest one percent of this country owns half our country’s wealth, five trillion dollars. One third of that comes from hard work, two thirds comes from inheritance, interest on interest accumulating to widows and idiot sons and what I do, stock and real estate speculation. It’s bullshit. You got ninety percent of the American public out there with little or no net worth. I create nothing. I own. We make the rules, pal. The news, war, peace, famine, upheaval, the price per paper clip. We pick that rabbit out of the hat while everybody sits out there wondering how the hell we did it. Now you’re not naive enough to think we’re living in a democracy, are you buddy? It’s the free market. And you’re a part of it. You’ve got that killer instinct. Stick around pal, I’ve still got a lot to teach you.

Michael Douglas created quite a craze with Gekko - check out the video below to see how folks reacted to his “rule-making”