Economy

Market Segmentation to Grow Customers, Sales, and Profits

Neil Lindsay, chief marketing officer for Sprint Prepaid Group, shares his approach to brand positioning, messaging, and go-to-market strategies.

When Interest Rates Head Up

It doesn't take any skill at prognostication to make this forecast: Interest rates are heading up. For one thing, they can't go any lower.

The Credit Crunch Myth: You Can't Fix What Ain't Broke

In an effort to fix the credit crunch, the American Recovery Reinvestment Act authorized $730 million in funding for the SBA. Only one problem: There may not be a small business

The U.S. Government Wants You in Debt

I’m going to out on a limb and make the bold statement: the United States government wants you in debt, rather than you saving money. Politics aside, I am going to discuss why I be

Book Review: Complicit - How Greed and Collusion Made the Credit Crisis Unstoppable

This week a government committee is investigating the cause of the financial crisis by interrogating bank titans what exactly went wrong. Complicit: How Greed and Collusion Made th

Are Americans Experiencing Frugality Fatigue?

Are Americans suffering from "frugality fatigue"? After a year of tightened belts and tighter fists, we're reaching for our wallets again and returning to our bad old ways. Or so t

It's Time to Purchase Like It's 1999

For those who have a job, a healthy savings account and some optimism about the long-term, it doesn’t get any better than this. Opportunity in the form of lower prices doesn’t kno

5 Creative Ways to Invest During a Weak Market

With the stock market finally recovering to some degree this past month, even closing at highs for the year, a lot of investors may be breathing a sigh of relief about their stock

Walking the Tight Rope of Financial Recovery: The Mental Game

Though some economists are tentative and a few disagree outright, the majority of people in the know believe that the worldwide recession has hit rock bottom and we are now, slowly

Will "forced frugality" last?

Lately I have been hearing about the concept of "forced frugality" from the media and my peers. Many colleagues and family members say that they feel a need to be frugal in this

Book review: Life Inc.

Corporations were invented a few hundred years ago--created to increase the wealth and power of favored businessmen (and the governments that favored them). They have become such

The new normal economy

The economy is way short of full employment, so naturally, consumer spending is down. Sooner or later employment, I think, will return to normal levels. Consumer spending will re

How Your Small Business Can Survive the Recession

By most accounts, this is going to be a long recession, and we’re still on the downward slope. As a small business owner, you will be forced to make drastic moves to survive. As yo

Economic effects of pandemic flu in a recession

While health authorities worry about the human cost of pandemics, other policy-makers have tended to focus on the economic costs. Economic impact takes many forms--drops in produc

Do You Live In One Of America’s Most Foreclosure-Ridden Towns?

I’ve seen several houses in my area go into foreclosure over the last 12 months. The economy and over-inflated housing prices, coupled with predatory lenders and some very bad deci

Suze Orman Tells Us To Pay ONLY The Minimum On Credit Cards. Wait, What?!

You’re not seeing things. This is not an April Fool’s gag (although if I’d written this last year it would have been). No, this is Suze Orman’s latest advice and it is a complete 1

How to Combat Economic Fatigue

Tough economic times take a toll on our sleep patterns, which adversely affect all other aspects of our lives, but it doesn't have to be this way.

Obama Eases Treasury Costs with At-Home Money Printing Stimulus

Everyone is feeling the economic crunch these days, and that includes the Treasury department. It’s no news to anyone here that there has been increasing unhappiness with President

Do generous unemployment benefits prolong the length of unemployment?

The latest news is that unemployment benefits will be extended from 59 weeks to 79 weeks in California with the help of the new Federal stimulus money. The maximum benefit has ris

Stag-hyperinflation?

Stagflation, the bane of the 1970s, is pretty much the worst situation for ordinary folks. With the economy depressed, jobs are scarce for workers and profits are scarce for busin