Superman Needed

Jamal Simmons writes in today’s Politico on the need for financial superheroes: In sports, as in politics, people like to root for and against a team. That tendency helps college basketball soar in popularity during March Madness because avid fans and casual observers alike cheer for the teams that will help them win that office pool. Americans similarly root for President Barack Obama, as evidenced by his high poll numbers, as he takes on Rush Limbaugh and the Republican naysayers in Congress.

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.

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 [...]

Drop the Consumer Label

The Washington Post’s Color of Money columnist, Michelle Singletary says it’s time to drop the consumer label: One of my New Year’s resolutions is to stop referring to myself as a consumer. The idea for the resolution actually came from reader Tom Krohn, who suggested that it’s not just the country’s spending habits that need to change for the better, but the language we use to describe who we are.

Teach Our Children Shared Sacrifice

David Ignatius writes: The Great Depression seared some life lessons into my parents’ generation. My father hasn’t had a mortgage in decades, even though his children keep telling him about the tax advantages. He buys store-label brands, clips the “sale” coupons out of the newspaper, and wears well-mended suits he bought 50 years ago.  Frugality [...]

Black Auto Workers Hit Particularly Hard By Recession

DETROIT — Since millions of African-Americans began leaving Southern farms for Northern factories nearly a century ago in what is still known as the Great Migration, the destinies of many of them have been entwined with the auto industry’s. The car companies were hardly multiracial utopias, but they, especially Ford, employed blacks when many industries [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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