GOOD DAY FOR: Frugality, after the Federal Reserve reported that U.S. households’ net worth fell by 18 percent, or $11 trillion, last year, in the biggest loss since the Fed started tracking household wealth after World War II. Led by housing and stock losses, the drop in wealth takes U.S. households back to 2004 levels. In all, U.S. households had a combined net worth of $51.48 trillion at the end of 2008. (The Wall Street Journal)
BAD DAY FOR: Free publicity, after a London-based insurance company, Willis Group Holdings, bought the naming rights to Chicago’s Sears Tower, the world’s tallest building when it was built in 1973 and still the Western Hemisphere’s tallest. Willis will also rent 140,000 square feet in the newly renamed 110-story Willis Tower. Sears moved out the building and relocated to the suburbs in 1992. (Chicago Tribune)
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