Financial panics used to be quite ordinary. In the century or two prior to the great depression, there was a panic every 15 or 20 years. Since the great depression we haven't had
I've always believed that mastery of vocabulary is at least halfway to mastery of the subject. Words are power--the kind of power commonly wielded by eggheads with pocket protector
With the recent upheaval in the financial markets, many individual investors are feeling the pain of shrinking investment accounts. In fact, over $2 trillion dollars have been wipe
Now, more than ever, financial “experts” are crawling out of the woodwork, ready to give you advice on pinching pennies in a tight economy. While all of this concern and guidance
For a decade, starting in the mid-1990s, the Federal Reserve kept interest rates too low and expanded the money supply too quickly. Their theory was that, as long as consumer pric
You might have thought that the $700 billion bailout bill seemed a bit excessive. You'll be relieved to hear that the bill that the President will sign tonight is worth a mere $800
Well folks, I hope you have plenty of time on your hands. The initial 3-page document that Bush and Paulson put forward has grown somewhat. It's hardly surprising, considering how
Anybody--but especially frugal people--can be excused for thinking that the whole credit crisis thing is being overblown. After all, we get along without debt. In fact, we str
Six months ago, I had plans. Lots of them. Career plans. Vacation plans. Financial plans. Then everything fell apart. My mother became ill. She had already been ill, having been di
The key thing to know about the Temporary Guarantee Program for Money Market Funds that the Treasury announced 10 days ago is that it only guarantees the money that you had in the
Last year I wrote an article about how I used my Vanguard Tax Exempt Money Market Fund as a high yield checkings account, and this week I suddenly got quite a few hits for that art
I remember saying to my dad, a long, long time ago, that I really needed a whole bunch of He-Man action figures for Christmas. Oh, and Battlecat, too. My dad looked at me, a hopefu
Several times recently, Treasury Secretary Paulson (and many others) have claimed that the "root cause" of the current financial crisis is "the housing correction." This is comple
About a year ago I wrote an article about the Consumer Price Index that made some friends say that I am a conspiracy theorist, but apparently I am not alone in believing that the g
Your life map is so clearly laid out in front of you; yet the last piece of the puzzle – retirement – is a fuzzy and often incomprehensible anomaly. With people living longer and s
Dear Secretary Paulson: I've looked over the fact sheet on the proposal to give the Treasury the authority to purchase "troubled assets," and although I have some doubts about th
In case you hadn't noticed, stock markets around the world have done some crazy things this week. At this point, I think we're all a little lightheaded, wondering if we should be w
Early this morning, the Treasury announced deposit insurance for money market mutual funds, provided that the fund pays a fee. The money to provide the insurance will come from th
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