Economy

If You Own a House and Aren’t Refinancing, Do It Now

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It’s a great time to be in the market for a house or to be a homeowner. It’s not because the housing market is heating up or because prices are rising (two things I think aren’t and shouldn’t be related). No, it’s because the cost to get a mortgage and pay a monthly payment is […]

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The Depressing Effects of Inequality

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Millions of Americans cushioned themselves against the 2009-10 recession by doubling up in houses and apartments, according to the U. S. Census Bureau in a report released June 20, 2012. The number of adults sharing a household with family members or other individuals jumped from 17 to 18.7 percent of households from 2007 and 2010. […]

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Inside Greece’s Economic Problems, and Why It Matters to Us

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Over the last 3 or 4 months, several news analysts have described the debt and deficit problems of Greece. Many of these same analysts decided to compare Greek debts and deficits to the United States. They cited data on Greece that shows a high and rising ratio of debt-to-Gross Domestic Product that increases the risk […]

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How China’s Fiscal Policy Affects American Unemployment

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The Obama administration continues to struggle with Chinese currency politics and policy. Some in Congress are accusing China of currency manipulation, saying the Chinese undervalue their currency, which hurts jobs and companies in the United States. The Chinese currency is known as the Yuan, although it is officially the Renminbi. To Americans, the price of […]

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Why Credit Default Swaps Should Regulated as Insurance

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Congress continues to discuss financial reform, but so far have come up with nothing. Last fall, Senator Dodd of Connecticut introduced long and elaborate legislation to reform America’s financial system, but the law and regulation is essentially the same as it was during the 2008 financial collapse. Lately, though, I keep reading short reviews about […]

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Consumer Debt is Down, But What’s the Real Cause?

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The latest figures from the Federal Reserve show that U.S. consumer debt fell by $11.5 billion (5.6%) in February, with revolving credit down $9.4 billion — the third largest drop during the past 32 years, according to MarketWatch. This sounds like good news, right? People are paying down their debts and not relying on their […]

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How to Get Rid of the Health Insurance Industry

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Will health care reform really keep costs down? In order to find out, we need to know exactly where costs keep on increasing. Shortly before the passage of the new health care bill, a spokesman for Anthem Blue Cross of California said this: “All health plans are in the same situation in trying to deal […]

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Do the Wealthy Really Earn What They Produce?

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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 […]

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How to Cut the Federal Deficit

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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 […]

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Do Corporate Profits Produce the Right Stockholder Dividends?

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This is the season when most of America’s corporations send their shareholders notice of the company’s annual meeting along with the 10-K report. The 10-K reports and the information in them are required as part of their corporate charter, although the companies often write additional summaries with lots of charts and photographs to highlight their […]

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Is It Time to Start Enforcing Antitrust Laws Again?

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Antitrust Laws have entered the news again, with a recent editorial by New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees discussing the NFL’s legal right to negotiate business contracts as a league instead of separate competing teams (“Saints’ quarterback Drew Brees weighs in on NFL’s Supreme Court case“). In this case, the contract is an exclusive deal […]

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Not All Jobs Are Created Equal

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Is employment looking up? In Newsweek, Daniel Gross says that “Jobs Are on the Way!,” noting that even though employment is still off 11,000 jobs, the all-important service sector has added 58,000 jobs. He cites the 0.2% drop in the unemployment rate and a few other markers of improvement, concluding America’s job market is turning […]

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How National Health Care Will Improve Your Salary

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The latest turn in the health care debate drops the public option but would extend Medicare eligibility downward to begin at 55 years old. Since the words “public option” bring automatic opposition, health care reform supporters in Congress apparently decided to address the politics with some new words even though Medicare is already a public […]

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