Since at least the 1980s, US policy has been to convince us to borrow as much as possible on pretty much anything we could think
A growing number of Americans seem to have concluded that elections offer no real choice, that whoever wins is going to spend and borrow more
Another of history’s many lessons is that governments under pressure become thieves. And today’s governments are under a lot of pressure. Before we look at
“How did you go bankrupt?” “Two ways, gradually and then suddenly” – Ernest Hemingway, The Sun also Rises Senate majority leader Harry Reid is on
This week both Italy and the US saw their ruling coalitions splinter. First Italy: Italy’s Coalition Teeters as Berlusconi Allies Walk Out Italian Prime Minister
It’s easy to understand the attraction of things like adjustable-rate mortgages and teaser-rate credit cards. They give you cheap money up front and a few
Japan’s government has fallen — again: Two-Party Japan Democracy Undone in 39 Months as DPJ Crumbles It took 54 years for Japan’s politics to produce
The premise of this series is that once a country’s debt rises to a certain level, the country becomes impossible to govern. Voters accustomed to a
The idea of a “debt jubilee” — that is, a wide-spread forgiveness of debt as a way to reset the US financial system — has
One of the problems with the debate over the “national debt” is that there’s no generally agreed upon definition of that term. Is it what
It was fun while it lasted. We Baby Boomers got to diss our elders when we were young and borrow without restraint through middle-age. Few
Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal devoted an entire page to the differences between today’s economy and a typical recovery: Slow Recovery Feels Like Recession Americans are
A comment thread on a recent DollarCollapse post reflects a debate that’s pretty widespread these days: eugene August 1, 2011 at 6:17 pm The thing
The following three stories would be funny if the picture they paint wasn’t so sad. First this: Second-Mortgage Misery Almost 40% of homeowners who took
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