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One swallow does not make a summer, but one skein of geese, cleaving the murk of March thaw, is the Spring.
Aldo Leopold Categories
Tag Archives: unemployment
New studies weigh college value and cost
Two new studies offer emphatic answers to much-discussed questions about higher education: Yes, a college degree is worth it, but yes, it’s the middle-class that’s getting particularly squeezed with student debt in the pursuit of one. Read More
401(k) hardship withdrawals require serious thought
The numbers show that times are still tough financially. More workers are taking money from their 401(k) accounts early and using the hardship withdrawal rules to give them access to needed cash. Read More
No New Taxes? Think Again
At the time of this writing President Obama and congressional leaders of both parties have evidently agreed to a framework for a budget deal that would cut trillions of dollars in federal spending over the next decade and clear the way for an increase in the government’s borrowing limit. Read More
What’s A Central Bank To Do?
As the economy continues to soften and fiscal stimulus morphs into fiscal austerity, the Federal Reserve must decide whether the US economy can stand on its own, or whether the central bank must, once again, intervene actively to prop up the economy. Read More
5 tips for staying under your own debt ceiling
It seems like common sense: Don’t take on more debt to pay off your bills. Yet debt-laden consumers routinely do just that, even as they criticize the federal government for efforts to raise the debt ceiling. Read More
Layoffs, housing data point to chronic problems
Sour reports Thursday, June 23, on the number of people who sought unemployment benefits and buyers of new homes illustrate what Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke acknowledged Wednesday: Many factors weighing on the economy are proving to be more chronic than first imagined. Read More
Medicaid for the middle class?
President Barack Obama’s health care law would let several million middle-class people get nearly free insurance meant for the poor, a twist government number crunchers say they discovered only after the complex bill was signed. Read More
Pondering the Fate of Inflation
For some time, we have forecast that inflation would return to relatively normal levels in 2011. In fact, we expect core inflation (inflation excluding food and energy) to rise from its near-zero year-over-year rate to closer to 2%. Read More
Defusing the Debt Trap
Burdened by an IOU totaling more than $14 trillion, the US economy is stumbling toward a debt trap – with no easy escape in sight. Read More
Home prices falling in most major US cities
Home prices are falling in most major U.S. cities, and at least 10 major markets are at their lowest point since the housing bubble burst.
The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city index shows price declines in 19 cities from January to February. Read More
Why inflation hurts more than it did 30 years ago
Inflation spooked the nation in the early 1980s. It surged and kept rising until it topped 13 percent.
These days, inflation is much lower. Yet to many Americans, it feels worse now. And for a good reason: Their income has been even flatter than inflation. Read More
Consumers still pay credit cards before mortgages
It’s not just mortgages that are upside down. People are staying current with their credit card payments even when they are behind on their mortgage, continuing a trend first seen three years ago. Read More
Inflation worries push consumer confidence lower
Rising prices at the gas pump and in grocery aisles are starting to crimp shoppers’ outlook.
The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index fell sharply from a three-year high in February, reversing five straight months of improvement. The decline raises questions about Americans’ ability and willingness to spend in coming months. Read More
