All Economy
- Estonian AustrianismBuilding off of his previous posts on the recovery of Estonia's economy, Stefan Karlsson explains how one should strive for the GDP to be at least as high and unemployment at least as low as then.聽
- On the prowl for insight into economistsThe folks over at The Daily Reckoning are on a mission. Their treasure? Insight. Insight into why it is that the smartest economists in the world are so stupid. Incidentally, they hope to understand why the GDP is such a fraudulent measure of prosperity
- Freezer burn? No way. Freeze extra staples and save.Don鈥檛 throw extra food away. And don鈥檛 shove it into the back of the fridge. Instead,聽freeze them and use them later.聽Almost any extra ingredient that you have on hand can be frozen and used in the future. The trick is simply knowing聽how聽to freeze the item.
- Chick-fil-A: Gay marriage debate and fast-food chicken? Yup.Chick-fil-A president's comments on 'biblical definition' of family create firestorm among gay marriage supporters and opponents. Boston mayor wants to keep Chick-fil-A out of his city.
- Retirement savings: Couple starts late. How much to put away?Retirement savings are small for a couple that's turned 30. Save 10 percent of his salary, at a minimum. See question No. 7 in the reader mailbag.
- Money as security (or other things)Money means a lot of different things to different people. Money can represent things, it can represent interesting potential experiences or places. It can represent power or social acceptance, corruption or evil. But for our personal finance expert, money represents security.
- Haunted by Europe, US market can't get aheadWhile The Street was able to ignore Europe's struggles for the past few days, the struggles of Spain on Friday proved too much for the market to bear. As Spain's stock market plunged 6 percent, the Dow Jones dropped 120 points to close at 12,822.
- Breaking the Facebook curse, two new tech IPOs go publicIn a nice sign that the Facebook IPO debacle has finally subsided, tech companies are finally starting to come out publicly again to warm receptions. It's a nice sign that tech IPOs are back again, and Palo Alto and Kayak are both riding the IPO resurgence.
- Morgan Stanley earnings fall sharplyMorgan Stanley misses Wall Street expectations as revenue for its investment banking unit falls 37 percent. Morgan Stanley stock drops.
- Win for Indiana: Honda to produce 2013 Civic Hybrid in the USIn a move that should benefit US manufacturing, Honda has announced it will move production of the 2013 Civic Hybrid to Indiana. The move will mark the first time the Civic Hybrid sedan has been made outside of Japan since it launched in 2001.
- The ExplainerLibor scandal: What is it and why you should careOne bank caught trying to rig an interest rate may be tip of an iceberg. With an estimated $300 trillion in loans or derivative contracts around the world pegged to the interest rate, the scandal is again shaking faith in major international banking centers like Wall Street and London City.
- Stay fresh: Avoid frozen and prepackaged mealsPrepackaged meals are certainly attractive due to convenience. But there are hidden costs as well. For starters, most frozen or prepackaged meals you buy are more expensive than their raw ingredients. Plus, there are important health issues.
- Private student loan report: Is subprime mortgage crisis comparison fair?A new government report says the private student loan market suffers from risky terms and lax underwriting, paralleling the subprime mortgage debacle. 聽Private lenders say the criticism is out of date.
- My Nissan Leaf life: A good (and affordable) plug-in is hard to findLatest installment of Monitor writer Mark Clayton's quest to buy a plug-in car: There are more than a dozen plug-in vehicles, but high costs and the lack of availability quickly narrow down the choices. 聽
- 5 ways to get cheap (or even free) roadside assistanceWhen your car breaks down, getting it fixed is expensive enough 鈥 but so is just getting it towed to the mechanic. Here's how to cheaply get off the hook the next time your car is on the hook.
- Jon Stewart and Spongebob return as DirecTV, Viacom reach dealViacom聽Inc. and the satellite TV service provider said Friday that they have settled a dispute that had cut off access to 17聽Viacom聽channels for DirectTV subscribers. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
- How the government hinders the American Dream of upward mobilityWith a budget that encourages consumption rather than savings, the gap between the American Dream and reality will only widen, some at the Tax Policy Center fear. One solution: Rethink those tax subsidies that too often hinder mobility in the name of enhancing it.
- Fiat 500L in-car espresso machine: tempest in a demitasse?Fiat 500L draws lots of attention for its espresso machine. Critics grumble about another distraction, but there's more to the Fiat 500L story.
- Breakaway brokers find a surprisingly bullish marketBreakaway brokers are gaining a lot of momentum, according to the Reformed Broker. One driver of the movement is the beating the bigger Wall Street houses took in the financial crisis, which has made investors wary of the large corporate firms.
- GOP conservatives scramble to take government shutdown off the tableIn a shift from last summer's debt-ceiling standoff, tea party conservatives now aim to be seen as avoiding a government shutdown, even if it means accepting a higher level of FY 2013 spending.