Business Pundit

The Fed recently released its latest Beige Book, a business survey that helps it decide on interest rates. Among other things, it found that snow hampered economic growth this winter. From the report: Consumer spending improved slightly in… Read more

Share There is a price to be paid for morality. Laws prohibiting alcohol, marijuana, same-sex marriages and gambling which promote community morals and standards also have another effect — a major loss of revenue from sales and taxes…. Read more

Plutus, the Greek god of wealth. The EU has “reached a deal” to bail out Greece in order to protect the European economy. EU President Herman Van Rompuy did not disclose details of the deal, which will hopefully help avoid a contagion effect… Read more

The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation released its annual survey of economic bloggers today. The survey gives you an idea of who leading economics bloggers are and how they perceive the economy. Today’s backdoor taxes media gaffe is yet another… Read more

Share Natural disasters often strike without warning, causing death and destruction which usually results in significant financial devastation as well. While the total economic impact of the 2010 Haiti earthquake is not yet known, the cost is… Read more

President Obama proposed his 2011 budget today. At $3.8 trillion, it won’t trim deficits in the near future, but will focus on longer-term deficit reduction. We compiled the details below. $3.8 trillion total budget for fiscal year 2011 (it… Read more

Obama’s State of the Union address tonight mentioned a variety of coming changes for business and economic policy. Here are some of the most important excerpts from the full speech: Small business: …tonight, I’m proposing that we take… Read more

Share Financially speaking, there is a great inequality in the United States. Over the last 30 years, while the rich have been getting richer, the poor have been getting steadily poorer. One reason for the growing disparity between the rich… Read more

What makes the Haiti earthquake so tragic? The fact that it happened in Haiti. The poverty-stricken, resource-stressed, historically potent republic couldn’t be in a worse position to host a major earthquake. I found it hard to wrap my head… Read more

Share   As 2009 winds to a close, time has once again come to make your new year’s resolutions. If personal finance is important to you, you undoubtedly wish to set financial goals for yourself in 2010. Even the most money-conscious among us… Read more

Share In the U.S., our dependence on oil not only makes for wealthy oil companies, it also supports our federal, state and local governments. Gas taxes add up quickly and some areas of the country are taxed more heavily than others. However,… Read more

European researchers have concluded that a big enough shadow economy can protect a country from recession. The Financial Times reports: Unofficial, or “shadow”, economies can help shield European countries during a recession – but… Read more

Who wants to be a millionaire… for under $200? Come on, even your mom could afford that. Might we suggest a trip to the following places… 10. Zambia Exchange Rate: US$1 = 4,669 Kwacha Highest Value Banknote: 50,000 ($10.70) To give you… Read more

Charles Goyette has spent much of his life thinking about money. He has contemplated how it works, how governments manipulate it, and how it stores value. Goyette, a radio show host, precious metals pro, and libertarian, shares his views on… Read more