The Stars of The Recession

ABBA: The world's pop group
While central bankers tried to vanquish the economic gloom with interest-rate cuts, moviegoers had a simpler fix: a 1970s Swedish pop group. ABBA's chart-topping album, "Mamma Mia," became a play in 1999, but didn't get the big-screen treatment until this past year. Perfect timing. The film, with an estimated budget of $52 million, grossed $572 million. The DVD release broke records in several countries; in the United Kingdom, one out of every four households owns a copy.
$572 Gross, in millions

NATIONAL LEADERS
Lula da Silva: President of Brazil
Four out of every five Brazilians approved of their president's performance in mid-December, according to polling by Angus Reid. Unlike his peers around the world, Lula's popularity has grown during the economic downturn, a sign of voters' confidence in his handling of the financial crisis thus far. And though the worst may still be ahead of him, he's got more than $200 billion in foreign-currency reserves to play with, and sky-high interest rates that allow plenty of flexibility. Mardi Gras may be a little subdued in 2009, but Lula will have plenty of reason to celebrate.
80% Approval rating in late December, up from 70 percent three months before

Gordon Brown: Prime minister of Britain
Brown's political life was as good as over by late summer of last year, when his disapproval rating hit 72 percent. But thanks to quick, decisive action during the following months, when the world economy teetered on the edge, Brown came back from the dead. By mid-December, more Britons put their economic faith in him than in his chief competitor, David Cameron.
35% give him top marks on the economy

THINKERS
Peter Schiff: Called the collapse
As early as August 2006, Schiff, the president of Euro Pacific Capital, started appearing on news programs to warn of a coming Armageddon in the real-estate sector. Other pundits like Arthur Laffer and Ben Stein laughed at him. We all know who had the last laugh.

Hyman Minsky: Economics for manics
It's rare for an economist's name to receive widespread attention, unless you're a Keynes or a Krugman. But Hyman Minsky, one of the most prominent economists to study manias, bubbles and panics, received posthumous glory (he died in 1996) after the subprime collapse. In 2008, the "Minsky moment," when speculative investors are forced to sell off their holdings in order to pay for bets gone wrong, clearly arrived. Let's hope the moment doesn't last too long.

© 2009