Personal Economics 101

If you think the world is coming to an end, think again: people are living longer, healthier, freer, and happier lives, and while our problems are formidable, the solutions lie in the Enlightenment ideal of using reason and science. Is the world really falling apart? Is the ideal of progress obsolete? In this elegant assessment of the human condition in the third millennium, cognitive scientist and public intellectual Steven Pinker urges us to step back from the gory headlines and prophecies of doom, which play to our psychological biases. Instead, follow the data: In seventy-five jaw-dropping graphs, Pinker shows that life, health, prosperity, safety, peace, knowledge, and happiness are on the rise, not just in the West, but worldwide. This progress is not the result of some cosmic force. It is a gift of the Enlightenment: the conviction that reason and science can enhance human flourishing. Far from being a naïve hope, the Enlightenment, we now know, has worked. But more than ever, i

Eagle Pass is the latest Texas town to be overwhelmed by our border crisis. It has 28,000 residents, two hospitals, and a police force of 100 people. Thousands of migrants are arriving in the town every day. Mayor Rolando Salinas issued a disaster declaration. Over just three days of this crisis, three migrants died near the crossing, including a three-year-old. Migrants are overwhelming the border because the Biden administration dismantled the web of executive orders and the remain-in-Mexico policy that successfully stopped the crisis under the last administration. The new amnesty for Venezuelans will not improve matters. This humanitarian disaster is a choice Biden made. (National Review, Sept 28, 2023) Eagle Pass, Texas Joe Biden's Intentional Crisis The continuing incursion of illegal border crossers into the United States is the most astonishing story in American politics. There have been days recently in which 10,000 people crossed illegally into the country -- and remember,

Top 10 States Receiving Department of Defense spending Virginia ($62.7 billion) Texas ($58 billion) California ($56.2 billion) Florida ($30.2 billion) New York ($28.1 billion) Maryland ($26.4 billion) Connecticut ($22.3 billion) Pennsylvania ($17.9 billion) Massachusetts ($15.2 billion) Arizona ($15 billion) See all the states here .

History Channel: How Many Times Has the Federal Government Shut Down? In the United States, a government shutdown happens when there is a gap in federal funding and the government furloughs federal workers without pay. Although there are exceptions for certain “essential” employees (including the president and members of Congress, all of whom continue to receive pay) a shutdown means that a large portion of the federal government stops functioning . Kelly Evans: The $2 trillion deficit: how did we get here? It’s a little unnerving that we’re seeing record budget deficits, soaring government debt, and steadily rising interest rates--all at the same time. How much of this can be undone? And how did we get here? The short answer is, government spending remains notably higher than it was pre-Covid, while revenues are more or less the same. And the fact that both deficits and debt are higher than in the past while our borrowing costs have soared means that paying interest is also taking up

Previously, here and here .  Even 'Fact-Checkers' Can’t Cover Biden Losing 85,000 Kids & Flying In Migrants Under Joe Biden’s centralized federal bureaucracy, the migrant flood along the borders of southern US states has become such a pressing problem that many conservatives are starting to acknowledge the wisdom of federalism and of states to handle things unfettered by the feds. And many are acknowledging that, no matter how many old-guard news agencies and how many US bureaus try to hide the truth, this federal immigration bureaucracy is both losing track of vulnerable migrant kids who have been separated from their parents, and also literally flying migrants into and around the US – while trying to keep it quiet. Kamala Harris Fails to End Border Crisis, So Biden Taps Her to Also End Gun Violence Despite her failure to secure the nation’s border, Pres. Joe Biden’s Border Czar – Vice Pres. Kamala Harris – has been given a new responsibility: stopping gun violence. On Im

If you’ve traveled to New York or San Francisco recently, you’ve likely noticed the price of your Starbucks order change from terminal to terminal. The difference is due to price level variation throughout the United States. The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) recently released data detailing the disparities in spending power across metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas of each state for calendar year 2021. Using the data, we can compare how much $100 buys across the country. The differences can be large and they have significant implications for the relative impact of economic and tax policies across the United States. $100 tends to buy the least in large cities in the Northeast, California, and the Pacific Northwest. On the other hand, $100 goes the furthest in rural areas in the Southeast and Midwest. Prices can vary significantly within states too—$100 in California tends to buy $89.45 worth of goods on average, but in the Los Angeles area, $100 can purchase about $87.86 worth

More than reversing a notable two-day drop, rates on 30-year mortgages roared back Thursday, surging almost a quarter percentage point higher to set a new historic record. Rates for every single mortgage type were up Thursday, with most averages rising by double-digit basis points. Mortgage Rates Rise Across the Board, Setting New Record for 30-Year Average Kelly Evans: Who is really raising rates in Washington?

By Victor Davis Hanson Since early 2021 we have witnessed somewhere between 7 million and 8 million illegal entries across the now-nonexistent southern border of the U.S. The more the border vanished, the more federal immigration law was rendered inert, and the more Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas spun fantasies that the “border is secure.” He is now written off as a veritable “Baghdad Bob” propagandist. But how and why did the Biden administration destroy immigration law as we knew it? The Trump administration’s initial efforts to close the border had been continually obstructed in the Congress, sabotaged by the administrative state, and stymied in the courts. Nonetheless, it finally had secured the border by early 2020. Yet almost all the Trump administration’s successful initiatives were immediately overturned in 2021. Construction of the wall was abruptly stopped, its projected trajectory canceled. The disastrous Obama-era “ catch and release ” policy of immigration

American Has Fallen, And Can't Get Up ...There’s no denying the crisis. In some areas, the border between Texas and Mexico looks like a refugee camp in sub-Saharan Africa. There are thousands of African and Latin American migrants coming through daily. More than two million came last year, over 5,000 per day, and nearly as many will come this year. ...That hardly means we’re helpless to stop the flow. This year, for the first time, US Border Control is encountering more migrants from outside Latin America than from within it. That means people are flying from Africa to Latin America and entering through Mexico. Is this part of a plan by Democratic leaders to expand the voting rolls? Some Republicans say so. And in California, some progressive politicians want to give undocumented immigrants the right to vote. They already provide official California state driver’s licenses and IDs. But if that was the plan, it’s turning the nation against them The migrants are overwhelming not ju

from Gary D. Halbert's "Between the Lines " President Joe Biden officially kicked off his 2024 re-election campaign in August, and he has been crisscrossing the country with campaign stops since then. His main re-election pitch is that the US economy is surging as a result of his economic policies. On that subject, the president repeatedly touts that the US economy has added almost  13.5 million new jobs  since he took office in January 2021. If true, that would be more jobs than created by any previous president over four years. The question is:  Is it true?  The answer is a little complicated but I’ll sort it out for you below. The fact is, nearly 13.5 million jobs have been gained since Mr. Biden took office. But what is critical to realize is that the vast majority of those new jobs were simply  businesses which shut down during Covid and are now reopening  – and calling back their laid-off workers. The issue when it comes to President Biden claiming he has created a

By SABRINA KARL , Investopedia Rates on 30-year mortgages rose again Monday, adding to the jump they saw Friday and pushing the flagship average almost back to the historic 22-year high it registered earlier this month. Averages for most other loan types were flat to mildly up Monday, with only a couple of averages declining. Rates on 30-year new purchase mortgages gained 6 basis points Monday, after jumping 16 basis points Friday. That raises the 30-year average to 7.82%, which is just barely below Sept. 7's historic reading of 7.84%—its highest mark since 2001. Monday rates on 15-year loans rose only a minor 2 basis points, nudging the average to 7.15%. Like 30-year rates, the 15-year average is now back within a couple of basis points of its recent peak—a 21-year high of 7.17% reached in mid-August. Jumbo 30-year rates held steady for a second day Monday, at the average's high-water mark of 7.02%. Though daily jumbo averages are not available before 2009, it's reasonable

By Stephen Culp , Reuters The mood amongst U.S. homebuilders took an unexpected dour turn this month. The National Association of Home Builders' (NAHB) Housing Market index (USNAHB=ECI) slid five points to land at 45 - the lowest since April - defying analyst expectations that it would hold firm at a neutral 50, which is the dividing line between optimism and pessimism. Coming on the heels of a 7-point drop in August, the residential construction sector is feeling the stress of rising mortgage rates; the average 30-year fixed contract rate has been above the 7% level since early August, and applications for loans to purchase homes are down 27.5% from a year ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. "High mortgage rates are clearly taking a toll on builder confidence and consumer demand, as a growing number of buyers are electing to defer a home purchase until long-term rates move lower," writes Robert Dietz, NAHB's chief economist. Home construction initiall

Get the book at ThriftBooks:  Think and Grow Rich  

Note: As of 9 AM, GM is up .58 or 1.72% to $34.24, while Ford is up .10 or .7% to $12.72.  Sometimes I side with the unions, but mostly I don't. In this case, the UAW has asked for too much, in my opinion. Democrats talk about greedy companies all the time, but ignore greedy workers.  Full-time assembly plant workers at Ford and GM earn $32.32 an hour, while part-timers currently make about $17 an hour. Full-time employees at Stellantis earn $31.77 an hour, and part-time workers earn close to $16 an hour. The $32 an hour translates to approximately $67,000 annually, based on a 40-hour work week. According to the U.S. BLS, the median wage in 2022 was $54,132. So the plant workers are already making above-average pay, some 25% more. They want that $32 an hour to go up some 40 percent over four years, or to about $45 an hour. This equates to $94,000 a year, based on a 40-hour work week. The strike will initially target one plant at each of the Big Three automakers and will not involve

The baby boomers capitalized on an unprecedented 40-year rally in stock and housing prices. Now, those babies are bequeathing on an equally epic level. According to financial market intelligence firm Cerulli and Associates , baby boomers and the Silent Generation (preceding boomers) will pass down $84.4 trillion in assets through 2045, with $72.6 trillion going directly to heirs. The Bank Administration Institute says it will “end up as the greatest transfer of wealth in history.” So, how, exactly, do tens of millions of people pass on tens of trillions of dollars? Let’s examine the situation. Boomers are handing down the lion’s share of the wealth — $53 trillion or 63% of all transfers. The Silent Generation will hand down $15.8 trillion, mostly over the coming decade. Ultra-high-net-worth households in the top 1.5% will account for 42% of the Great Wealth Transfer — about $35.8 trillion. That last part shouldn’t be surprising. The rich have always passed estates down to their heirs,

This is your bedrock for all your finances. Without an emergency fund, any other goals you may have, such as investing or saving for a vacation or college, will get derailed. It's difficult to recover.  But first of all, have a budget and follow it. I'm retired now, but still use a budget. It's basic to sound financial planning and peace-of-mind. Recent surveys indicate that 61 percent of American families cannot come up with $400 to meet an emergency. Don't be one of these people. 

From Charles Schwab, Inc . If you've already gone from saving for retirement to living off your savings—or you're still making this shift—it probably doesn't surprise you to hear that retirement doesn't mean an end to your financial responsibilities. "In some ways, they become more important," says Rob Williams, managing director of retirement income and wealth management at the Schwab Center for Financial Research. "As your focus shifts from work to enjoying the fruits of your labor, your planning needs also change," Rob says. "If the priority before was to save enough to retire, the main job now is to preserve and protect—but also use your savings so you can enjoy the retirement you dreamed about." Here are nine things you can do after you retire (or partially retire), to keep your goals on track. 1. Review your spending and income plan at least once a year After years of working and saving, you likely started retirement with a plan for h

At approximately 8:46 a.m. on a clear Tuesday morning , an American Airlines Boeing 767 loaded with 20,000 gallons of jet fuel crashes into the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York City . The impact left a gaping, burning hole near the 80th floor of the 110-story skyscraper , instantly killing hundreds of people and trapping hundreds more in higher floors. As the evacuation of the tower and its twin got underway, television cameras broadcasted live images of what initially appeared to be a freak accident. Then, 17 minutes after the first plane hit, a second Boeing 767—United Airlines Flight 175—appeared out of the sky, turned sharply toward the World Trade Center, and sliced into the south tower at about the 60th floor. The collision caused a massive explosion that showered burning debris over surrounding buildings and the streets below. America was under attack. Full story at History.com

Opinion By the Washington Examiner The decision of Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) to bus immigrants from Texas to New York City is putting a squeeze on President Joe Biden , who refuses to enforce immigration laws. It has made every community in the nation a border community, and Democrats are starting to squeal. This Wednesday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams delivered his strongest condemnation of Biden’s border policies yet, telling a crowd of wealthy Upper West Side Manhattans, “I don’t see an ending to this. This issue will destroy New York City.” “We have to feed, clothe, house, educate their children, wash their laundry sheets, give them everything they need,” Adams continued. “One time, we were just getting Venezuela. Now we’re getting Ecuador. Now we’re getting Russian-speaking coming through Mexico. Now we’re getting western Africa.” “Every community in this city is going to be impacted,” Adams said. “We have a $12 billion deficit that we’re going to have to cut — every service i

Craig Bannister, mrcTV “I just got published in Nature because I stuck to a narrative I knew the editors would like. That’s not the way science should work,” a PhD climate scientist and adjunct faculty member at John Hopkins University’s Energy and Climate Policy Program says in a commentary excoriating the nation’s media for putting their political agenda ahead of scientific integrity. Brown holds a PhD from Duke University in Earth and Climate Sciences, a Master’s degree from San Jose State University in Meteorology & Climate Science, and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences. In his commentary , “I Left Out the Full Truth to Get My Climate Change Paper Published,” Brown explains that the editors’ selection of materials to publish is driven by agenda-driven bias - and not by academic rigor: “[T]he biases of the editors (and the reviewers they call upon to evaluate submissions) exert a major influence on the collective