From the category archives:

Economy

US Debt Now Equivalent to Entire US Economy – Investing in This New Era

The United States has just reached the dreaded 100% Debt-to-GDP ratio with its $15.2 Trillion debt level surpassing the value of all goods and services produced in-country. This is important because it vaults us into a whole new echelon of debt-ridden societies with financial crises of their own: only Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan and [...]

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I AM the 53% – Share Your Story

There’s a great site worth checking out. In the same vein as the Occupy Wall Street crowd who claim to represent 99% of Americans, there’s another site dedicated to the JUST 53% of Americans that actually pay federal income taxes. After all, if it weren’t for those 53%, who would pay for the 47% of [...]

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My Laid Off Co-Worker is Better Off Unemployed Than Working – 99 Weeks Off, Same Income!

I bumped into an old co-worker at the gym. We used to be shift supervisors together back in the day. Our professional paths meandered in different directions over the years but we’ve always kept in touch. It turns out, he was just let go and after expressing my concern, he actually joked, “I’m better off [...]

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What If Unemployment Benefits Were Structured as a Loan Instead of a Freebie?

There are a lot of strong emotions on either side of the Unemployment Benefits discussion. On one hand, there are the current unemployed who are pretty miserable right now. Many can’t find a job commensurate with their skill set and prior pay rate and they’re burning through their savings. They’re sick of hearing politicians, the [...]

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Is Capitalism Doomed? The Cliche of Our Time

Whenever something significant occurs in financial markets, or even a major industrial event, people invariably start asking about whether capitalism is doomed. I remember after the BP oil spill in the gulf, one of my old highschool buddies (who’s a great guy, but his ultra-liberal ideals give us some good debating topics) put a thread [...]

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US Loses Triple A Credit Rating – It’s About Time

S&P, one of the big three credit rating agencies, just dropped America’s AAA Credit Rating, a first in history. I wonder if democrats and the talking heads on the cable news networks will now start referring to S&P employees as terrorists. Because after all, anyone who critiques America’s wildly reckless spending habits is a terrorist [...]

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State by State Gas Price Map…and a Friendly Reminder

Here’s a nifty map of current gas prices by state. I always love seeing visual displays of things like income, unemployment rates, cigarette consumption or any other random statistic by state and then try to contemplate explanations for the trends. I have no authoritative commentary to offer here, but you may enjoy this map nonetheless [...]

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A Novel Idea to Solve The Debt Ceiling Crisis

I first started highlighting the circus that would ensue regarding the debt ceiling vote months ago where I laid out the likely political posturing and likely outcomes. What I didn’t lay out at that time was after we pass this next debt ceiling increase, what happens from there. Based on the past several debt ceiling [...]

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Jobs with LOW Unemployment – The Data is In

With the unemployment rate stubbornly hovering above 9%, I sometimes make the mistake of simplifying the situation by saying to myself “about 1 out of 10 people I know should be unemployed, statistically speaking”. As it turns out, of the hundreds of people I know somewhat closely, I can think of only 2 that have [...]

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Who Would Lend to This Guy???

I was talking to a work buddy last week and he was telling me about his financial predicament. What I found to be disturbing was the notion that he was completely cognizant of the peril of his spending habits yet there was a complete lack of vision in ever paying it off. He was very [...]

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