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The 3 Financial Shocks of 2012
Tweet Share on Facebook December 19, 2011 Comment (1)There's a case to be made for optimism in 2012. Many bad economic problems are behind us, with the housing bust in its latter stages and consumers working their way out from under a mound of excessive debt. Most big companies are in good shape, and many Americans have learned smarter, more sustainable financial habits.
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11 Companies On the Edge in 2012
Tweet Share on Facebook December 17, 2011 Comment (7)It was four years ago that a punishing recession officially began. The financial pressure drove many companies out of business, while the survivors generally adapted and got stronger.
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Why Cell Phones Will Never Be Banned In Cars
Tweet Share on Facebook December 14, 2011 Comment (71)It's a startling headline: "U.S. Safety Board Urges Cellphone Ban for Drivers." But nobody needs to worry about federal agents policing their iPhone or Blackberry.
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Who Will Prosper in 2012
Tweet Share on Facebook December 14, 2011 Comment (5)Nobody's predicting boils or locusts, but there certainly are a lot of things that could go wrong in 2012.
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Who Will Struggle in 2012
Tweet Share on Facebook December 14, 2011 Comment (7)There's a small chance of a happy economic surprise in 2012. Leaders in Europe might finally find a way to reinforce the euro zone stitching that has been unraveling for the last three years. In Washington, Republicans and Democrats might go see Hugo together and become inspired to help their country. Ben Bernanke might show up at your door with a bag of money.
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How Spending and Saving Are Changing
Tweet Share on Facebook December 12, 2011 Comment (3)Spend or save? It was once a fairly straightforward question: You spent what you needed and saved the rest. But as mass consumption has become a dominant force in the U.S. economy, the tension between spending and saving has become far more acute.
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Why Raising Taxes on the Rich Is So Hard
Tweet Share on Facebook December 8, 2011 Comment (26)Washington needs money. The wealthy are prospering. Much of the middle class, meanwhile, is falling behind. Normal patterns of elective politics would suggest that tax hikes on the rich are in the bag.
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3 Holes In Obama's "Fairness" Doctrine
Tweet Share on Facebook December 7, 2011 Comment (21)Your parents probably told you--life isn't always fair. But President Obama thinks he can do something about that.
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How the Economy Would Change Under Newt Gingrich
Tweet Share on Facebook December 6, 2011 Comment (8)He's an entertaining debater, with snappy comebacks and elaborate views on practically every issue that ever comes up. He's also spent decades inside the Beltway, with a better understanding than most candidates of the tradeoffs and arm-twisting needed to get things done in Washington.
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The Case for Ending the Payroll Tax Cut
Tweet Share on Facebook December 2, 2011 Comment (1)Many Americans don't even know it, but a year ago the government cut every worker's taxes in order to pump a little extra money into the economy. The temporary, one-year measure lowered the withholding rate on payroll taxes—primarily used to fund Social Security—from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent. That boosted the typical worker's take-home pay by roughly $75 per month, the equivalent of a couple tanks' worth of gas.
