Archive for the ‘Economy’ Category
Wednesday, September 10th, 2008
According to an article in today's Wall Street Journal, big credit card companies are ramping up collection efforts on their credit card portfolios. Citigroup has hired a number of new collectors and have increased the frequency of calls to delinquent account holders. American Express is offering to cut interest ...
Posted in Banking, Credit Cards, Economy | No Comments »
Friday, May 16th, 2008
Very nice infographic from the New York Times showing a visual representation of how much the average American spends on each of the 200 categories that make up the Consumer Price Index (the most common measure of inflation).
The largest component - by far - is "Owner's Equivalent Rent", ...
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Tuesday, May 13th, 2008
One of the highlights of my week is seeing a new episode of "This American Life" pop into my podcasts folder in iTunes. For those of you not familiar with the show, it is a one hour radio program produced by Chicago Public Radio and hosted by Ira Glass.
This ...
Posted in Economy, Housing, Mortgages | No Comments »
Sunday, May 4th, 2008
Posted in Economy, Mortgages | No Comments »
Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008
If you are reading this blog, you are probably a financially savvy person. Therefore, you already know the benefits of having an emergency fund set aside for unforeseen financial emergencies. Many financial experts, including Dave Ramsey recommend that you set aside money in an easily accessible account of, at ...
Posted in Budget, Economy, Planning, Tips | No Comments »
Saturday, April 19th, 2008
I have read a lot about the subprime mortgage crisis, and found most of the explanations a little hard to get my head around. A friend e-mailed me a link to a presentation (hosted on Google Apps), that I feel, does the best job of explaining the whole subprime ...
Posted in Economy, Housing, Humor, Mortgages | No Comments »
Friday, April 11th, 2008
Real Estate site HotPads has an interesting (and frightening) display option that allows you to view heat maps of foreclosures, by neighborhood, in cities throughout the United States. Here is a screen shot of the Atlanta metropolitan area: And here is Phoenix: ...
Posted in Economy, Mortgages, Statistics | No Comments »
Sunday, April 6th, 2008
A recently released survey from the American Bankers Association shows consumer loan delinquencies have reached a 16 year high.
Loans at least 30 days past due in in the most recent quarter totaled 2.65%. This is the highest level of delinquency since 1992, when delinquencies totaled 2.75%.
Source: USA Today - ...
Posted in Banking, Credit, Economy | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 26th, 2008
Interesting article from Yahoo News citing a US Department of Agriculture study:
Middle-income families can expect to spend $204,060 on feeding, housing and schooling a child born in 2007 until his or her 18th birthday, the U.S. government reported on Monday.
Housing will be the single largest cost for U.S. families ...
Posted in Economy, Family | No Comments »
Friday, February 29th, 2008
I found this map on the Carpe Diem Blog comparing the economies all US States to the GDP of various world economies. For instance, the economic output of Texas is roughly equivalent to the GDP of Brazil.
It helps to put into perspective how truly rich this country is.
Posted in Economy | No Comments »
