CHANGE: Obama economic report focuses on women, ignores ‘Great Mancession.’ “While the recession has hit men far harder than women — so much so that some pundits have dubbed this economic downturn a ‘mancession’ — the Obama administration is focusing on the struggles women are facing during these tough economic times.” Of course they are. “Veronique de Rugy, senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center, believes that the current focus on women is tied to the election and the administration’s ‘get out the vote’ efforts.”