Our nation's personal savings rate is now at its lowest point since the Great Depression. ...more

January 28, 2009

Our nation's personal savings rate is now at its lowest point since the Great Depression. Let's then take a look at what the scenario might be if the breadwinner in a young family walked out the door one day and died before the day ended. ...more

January 28, 2009

"Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World," by Liaquat Ahamed (The Penguin Press, $33) ...more

January 25, 2009

A number of editorials in major and local newspapers repeat the mantra that the collective "we" caused many of the crises facing us today; that the collective "we" allowed our leaders to be corrupt; that "we" kept putting the same corrupt elected officials in government; that the collective "we" were spend thrifts, using credit cards to buy now and pay later, letting the bills pile up. And what about the credit card corporations? ...more

January 25, 2009

Rising displeasure with the Troubled Assets Relief Program was apparent this week when the U.S. House voted 270 to 155 not to spend the second round of TARP money, even though representatives knew the vote was symbolic and wouldn't stop the $350 billion from being spent. ...more

January 24, 2009

Like anyone who pays attention to business and financial news, I am in a state of high economic anxiety. Like everyone of good will, I hoped that President Barack Obama's Inaugural Address would offer some reassurance, that it would suggest that the new administration has this thing covered. ...more

January 24, 2009

The U.S. government of the people has become the government of the political elite. ...more

January 23, 2009

For the first time since the Great Depression, General Motors cannot call itself the world's largest automaker. Its sales fell behind Toyota in 2008, a year when GM celebrated its 100th anniversary and narrowly avoided a bankruptcy filing amid a significant downturn in the economy. ...more

January 22, 2009

Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. sold more cars and trucks last year than General Motors Corp., stripping the Detroit automaker of the No. 1 global sales crown. But it's a victory made hollow by the overall industry's continued struggle for viability amid one of its worst sales declines ever. ...more

January 21, 2009

Last September, after meeting with Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernacke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson concerning the "need" for the $700 billion bailout, President Bush reportedly remarked to a White House aide, "I am not going to be another Herbert Hoover." ...more

January 21, 2009