Sure, we should never spend more than we earn. And we should always try to save a little something. But sometimes we need a helping hand from our friends and family to meet financial challenges. People want to help. Giving to someone in need takes some finesse. Only friends, family and neighbors who care, are compassionate
Continue reading Food Stamps – Our Ticket to Prosperity? – “Never spend more than you earn” and “always try and save a little something.”
Households and businesses have been reducing debt for a couple of years. But the debt has simply morphed into government debt. But in Europe and the U.S. we’re getting close to debt reduction time, or what’s being referred to as the “fiscal cliff”.
Soon we will be deliberating the possibility of experiencing debt deflation. Austerity is
Continue reading Debt Deleveraging – is Debt Deflation Coming?
The unemployment rate is dropping, but not fast enough for many. Jobs affect household spending and are needed to pay down household debt. Jobs affect the well-being of families and their ability to achieve goals.
So how do we address the unemployment issue? Unemployment can be cyclical (as the economy improves, employment goes up) or structural.
Continue reading Our Unemployment Rate – Do We Have a Structural Jobs Problem?
The perception that women are scarce leads men to become impulsive, save less, and increase borrowing. Research shows us that women have expectations of how men should spend their money when courting. Their expectations increase as the ratio of men to women goes down.
Some of our behaviors, including saving and spending, are much more reflexive and
Continue reading Men Spend More and Save Less to Find a Mate
What are the financial predictors of happiness? We could look at metrics related to debt, spending, hours worked, percent of income saved, travel industry sales…so many to pick from.
Steven Kaplan, a professor of entrepreneurship and finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, believes unemployment rates are better than income inequality in predicting
Continue reading Unemployment Correlated With Happiness – Steven Kaplan: Implications for Education and Personal Growth
Most Americans want to spend less money, according to Gallup polling organization. Families continue to monitor spending closely but aren’t making meaningful changes in cutting back their spending.
While families manage their household budget and spending, behavioral psychology has found that spending money does not make people happier. Gallup polling data indicates that families’ sense of
Continue reading Income Buys Satisfaction, Not Happiness – the Value of Intrinsic Goals
With spending and investment portfolios declining in the midst of a household debt contraction our chances of going into recession are rising.
Household spending fell in June for the third straight month; never in the past five decades has this happened outside of a slump.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index plunged 16.8 percent in 11 days,
Continue reading Spending and Investments Decline, Chance of Recession Rises
The national discussion on how to get our debt problem under control and reduce our spending raises many various arguments. A recent example offered that our pluralistic society is causing the givers to resent giving to the takers. Now, Arthur Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute, shares that only by allowing people to struggle to improve
Continue reading Our Federal Debt and the Pursuit of Wealth and Happiness
The attempt by households and governments to reduce debt is showing that it is difficult to do. Today, U.S. consumers have more mortgage and credit-card debt than they did five years ago, and the U.S. budget deficit is worsening.
The government and individuals alike are still heavily in debt. U.S. consumer debt has skyrocketed by 37%
Continue reading Attempt to Reduce Debt is Difficult and Impacts Global Economy
Households continue to reduce debt.
The major force behind the slow recovery isn’t going away soon: America is turning away from debt and embracing thrift, and the epicenter of change is the household. History suggests that the transition toward a high-saving, less-debt balance sheet will be long and painful before vibrant growth resumes.
The Federal Reserve
Continue reading Corporate and Household Debt Declining – Now it’s Government’s Turn