Finance | Unexpected Leisure

July 29, 2012May 6, 2013

On the Duty of Fiscal Disobedience

OWS stated implicitly and explicitly that Washington, DC though full of sound and fury, signifies nothing. The nationâ€™s true political center of gravity is no longer Washington, but Wall Street. Read more [...]

October 23, 2011

The True Message of Occupy Wall Street

Occupy Wall Street is telling the powers that be, "We can make a better society than you can, and here's how to do it!" Read more [...]

October 4, 2011

The Other Price of Foreclosures

A growing body of research shows that foreclosure itself harms the health of families and communities. In our 2008 survey of 250 people undergoing foreclosure in the Philadelphia area, 32 percent reported missing doctorâ€™s appointments and 48 percent said they let prescriptions go unfilled, significantly higher rates than others in their community. Read more [...]

September 3, 2011

A Thought on Government Spending

In other words, in order to win World War II, the United States essentially transformed itself into a socialist nation. And after the war, government spending on free college educations for GIs and excellent deals on home loans launched an unrivaled era of prosperity and economic growth. Read more [...]

April 25, 2011

A Quick Economic Makeover

I just want to point out an excellent resource that a friend of mine brought to my attention last week. This is a post titled "24 Quick Actions That Can Change Your Financial Life Forever." Actually, it goes beyond finances, strictly speaking, which is why I called it an economic makeover, but even that doesn't quite cover it. Read more [...]

April 16, 2011

Dodging Price Traps

We've all seen the trick where something is priced for a penny less than what it could be; in stead of charging $50 they charge $49.00. Gas stations even increment things down to tenths of a cent. The weird thing is, this strategy works of they'd stop using. This is an example of what I call a pricing trap. A psychological trick to make think you're paying less, or getting a better deal than you really are. Read more [...]

March 26, 2011

The 23% Decline in Household Incomes

While this will hardly come as a surprise to most readers, the Fed has released the results of research conducted in 2007 and 2009 showing a 23% decline in household income during those two years. While there is some evidence that some households, including some of the poorer, have seen slightly better days since then, this survey makes it possible to actually quantify somewhat the extent of the damage done by this recessions. Read more [...]

February 19, 2011

“Funny Numbers” on Inflation: It’s Higher Than You Think

Now the question is, if excess money in the system causes inflation, how bad is it? The answer is that it's worse than you're being told. Starting in the early 80's the Government began fiddling with the numbers used to define inflation. This practice continued through several presidential administrations. Read more [...]

January 31, 2011

Two Animated Bears Explain the Bank Bailouts in Six Minutes

Here in about six minutes, the bears explain the bailout and why you should be extremely pissed off at how the banks have screwed American taxpayers, and how the government let them do it. Read more [...]

January 29, 2011January 29, 2011

A Nifty Tool to Ease Health Care Expenses

Even if your company doesnâ€™t make much money (and mine doesnâ€™t), you can start to write off expenses associated with the work you do. One of the most useful write-offs I get through my company is through my Healthcare Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA). Read more [...]