Dear Santa, My Daddy says you don’t exist.  I have to believe because you are the only one that can help me.  I got myself into a mess and I deserve nothing but coal (or ethanol) in my stocking this year.  But please save my pathetic and dying industry.  Sprinkle some happy dust on the [...]

Face it, we’re in a recession, it’s like the end of the world and stuff.  Get your revolver and grab grandma, we’re going to the bomb shelter. Stay calm Weakonomians.  Recessions are fine if you have sufficiently prepared for them.  Of course most of us don’t which is why so many people are scared.  By [...]

Someone sent me this and I just had to share.  It sums up my feelings alright.  Ignore the $25 billion part, this was made before the bailout was announced.

We stand just days before Christmas now.  Even if you don’t celebrate the holiday, you are forced to admit it’s pretty important around here.  If for nothing else, you’ll probably get the day off. Though retailers had hoped the holiday season might be salvageable, most of what I’m reading points to consumers cutting back this [...]

Regular readers know that I’m a big proponent of credit cards.  I love them.  The credit card companies don’t love me though.  They don’t make any money off of me.  Last year, I signed up for the Chase Freedom Rewards card because they offer cash back on every purchase you make.  Fast food, grocery, and [...]

I love behavioral economics, the study of how thoughts and emotions influence our decisions.  My specific interest is in behavioral finance, which would be how those thoughts and emotions influence our relationship with money.  Months ago, I had run out of good behavioral economics books to read, so I contacted one of the editors of [...]

The biggest non-news item to break last week was this Bernie Madoff fellow and his billion dollar Ponzi Scheme.  I say it’s non-news because the people that lost money here are admitting they didn’t really know how the guy was able to consistently make money.  If you invest in something you don’t understand, and it’s [...]

So Bank of America plans to lay off the equivalent of a small town.  The announcement ends their calendar year on such a high note.  This year was busy for the only remaining powerhouse bank in the south with the purchase of Countrywide and Merrill Lynch. At first you might think 35,000 is a lot [...]