Understanding the Banking Crisis

Kudos to anyone who isn’t in the banking or investment industry that understands it. I have tried to keep up but by the time I think I’ve got it, something new pops. And given I only have a couple of pennies to my name and those are hidden under my mattress, I’ve decided perhaps that ignorance is bliss….at least for a day and then I once again start sorting through the business section (perhaps not so much now at the Washington Post) trying to decipher the health of the world economy.

Getting Schooled

Perhaps my favorite portion of President Obama’s address to Congress was when he cautioned American schoolchildren and challenged all Americans to “get schooled.”

The Economic Stimulus: What’s In It For You?

Given the largess of the economic stimulus bill recently signed into law by President Obama, there is pretty much something in there for everyone. The HuffingtonPost gives a good summary of the many provisions within the new law. Provisions which may be of interest to readers are outlined.

Parents in Crisis: Find the Right Adviser

Finding the Right Adviser is the first in a series of Smart Money articles on helping your parents through the financial crisis:  As money evaporates from their retirement savings, many parents are turning to their kids for help. SmartMoney Senior Editor Beverly Goodman, an expert on investing and personal finance, embarked on “Parents in Crisis,” [...]

Understanding Economic Terms in the News

I considered myself lucky to have escaped college and graduate school with only one economics course. I had other academic pursuits to indulge and couldn’t be bothered with perfunctory economics courses. After all, I knew the basic economic principles of supply and demand, even comparative advantage. I even knew the economic theories of Adam Smith [...]

Ten Point Plan to Keep Your Job

There is no doubt that those who rang in 2009 with our jobs breathed a collective sigh of relief.  Especially with the most recent jobs report showing that U.S. private sector job losses in December were much higher than expected.  However, everyone from the media to the new president-elect is warning us that the worst [...]

Eugene Robinson: The Year of Madoff

Eugene Robinson writes in The Washington Post: For anyone taking stock of 2008, Barack Obama is the inevitable choice as Person of the Year. But he’s not the only American whose story suggests that this thrilling, dramatic, unforgettable year will be seen as a demarcation of grand historical eras, a bright line between yesterday and [...]

NYT Columnist Bob Herbert: Stop Being Stupid

Bob Herbert urgently writes, I’ve got a new year’s resolution and a new slogan for the country.  The resolution may be difficult, but it’s essential. Americans must resolve to be smarter going forward than we have been for the past several years.  Look around you. We have behaved in ways that were incredibly, astonishingly and [...]

Recession Reminds Us to Get Back To Basics: Bubble Bourgeoisie Learns to ‘Do-It-Yourself’

There is nothing like a recession to remind us of all the things we can do for ourselves, but don’t.  It is past time to review need and wants.  Froma Harrop writes:   “Doing it yourself these days?” asks the Depression-era ad for bleach. It shows pampered hands wading in a tub full of laundry.  There’s [...]

Understanding the Madoff Scandal

CNNMoney.com answers six questions to better understand the Madoff scandal. How’d Madoff do it and why: Many of the details surrounding the Bernard Madoff scandal are still fuzzy. Here’s what we need to know. Despite all that’s been written about the Bernard Madoff scandal, what’s remarkable is how much we don’t know about the fraud [...]

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