Posts by author:

Fred Siegmund

Where's the Real Financial Reform?

Thumbnail image for Where's the Real Financial Reform?

The new credit card rules will make it difficult for banks and credit card processors to be tricksters, which is my word for their erratic and arbitrary fees and penalties.
But despite the hostile opinions reported in the popular media, banks continue to have their way in financial matters.
Take the student loan program, where Congress decides [...]

Read the full article →

It's Time for an Employment Revolution

Thumbnail image for It's Time for an Employment Revolution

Unemployment continues to be one of the biggest problems of the great recession.
Despite its recent fall, it is still at 9.7%. But if we look at labor force and employment trends of the Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Population Survey back to 2000, the employment situation looks even worse.
The civilian labor force drifts upward but [...]

Read the full article →

Can Internet Competition Open Up the Textbook Market?

Thumbnail image for Can Internet Competition Open Up the Textbook Market?

The market for college textbooks has never worked well.
In the age before the Internet, new books tended to be sold as a monopoly in the college bookstore. After the first semester of a new textbook, a used book market emerges that competes with new books sold at the bookstore.
Used books remain as a competitive problem [...]

Read the full article →

Do the Wealthy Really Earn What They Produce?

Thumbnail image for Do the Wealthy Really Earn What They Produce?

In a comment from my post on How to Cut the Federal Deficit, there was objection to taxing the wealthy at higher rates.
The comment said: "Remember – they [the wealthy] worked hard for that money, and free markets determined what they do is of such high value."
I did not suggest it was fair or unfair, [...]

Read the full article →

Who's to Blame for College Financial Aid Shortfalls?

Thumbnail image for Who's to Blame for College Financial Aid Shortfalls?

The Education Trust, a nonprofit advocacy group, recently released a report titled "Opportunity Adrift" that criticizes the financial aid practices of public universities. The report used data from 2003 to 2007.
The report accuses public research universities of increasing the amount of aid to students whose parents make at least $115,000 a year by 28 percent [...]

Read the full article →

How to Cut the Federal Deficit

Thumbnail image for How to Cut the Federal Deficit

I clipped a news article way back on August 11, 2005 when the Associated Press reported President Bush's comments on a new transportation-spending bill.
According to the article, "President Bush calls the massive $286.4 billion transportation spending bill he signed into law Wednesday a job creator."
The article goes on to describe the bill that will pay [...]

Read the full article →

Ask the Readers: Does Corporate Campaign Financing Matter?

Thumbnail image for Ask the Readers: Does Corporate Campaign Financing Matter?

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision to ban Congress from placing limits on corporate campaign financing riled up a long debated issue.
Supporters claim monetary restrictions limit free speech regardless of content and detractors claim the court majority harms jurisprudence by legislating a political agenda from the bench.
I can't solve that debate, but I have a question [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries