« Previous Entry | Main If Greece Were a Binge Drinker A Greek flag flies next to a statue of Socrates in Athens. IMF chief Christine Lagarde on Wednesday warned of the risk of "contamination" if Greece quits the euro and said the eurozone might therefore see the value of paying more to keep Greece in. Photo by Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images. A pair of responses to my austerity/stimulus post of a few days ago illustrate the current conflict in economic ideology quite nicely. tedmc writes on behalf of austerity: "Doesn't the medicine of austerity arrive only after the binge? It is the 'binge' that puts the death spiral into action. Ie: group A gets [government benefits] provided by funds removed from group B -- and ... Continue reading →
There's a revolution going on, as ever-accelerating developments in digital information technologies change nearly every aspect of how we live, work, play, do business, and engage in politics. Share and share alike—the numbers say it all as billions of people worldwide flock to online media and use social networks to discover and spread news and information. In the process, ever-growing networks of "ordinary people" are using these powerful new tools to trim the influence long held by Big Business, Big Government, and Big Media. No longer just passive recipients, participants in social networks now regularly make and break news while organizing civic and political actions that bypass censors, outpace traditional media, attract massive audiences, and influence the rise and fall of brands, industries, politicians, and ... Continue reading →
« Previous Entry | Main Does It Ever Make Sense to Dip Into Your 401(k)? Creative Commons photo by Flickr user Thomas Hawk. Paul Solman answers questions from the NewsHour audience on business and economic news here on his Making Sen$e page. Tuesday's question comes from an in-house NewsHour staffer who wishes to remain "Anonymous," not to be confused with the author of "Primary Colors." Question: If an emergency situation arises, does it ever make sense to pull money from a retirement fund such as a 401(k) rather than going into credit card debt to keep from going into the red? The fear of short-sightedness is paralyzing. Paul Solman: As far as I can tell (and readers, please let me know if I'm missing something), ... Continue reading →
« Previous Entry | Main Is It Better to Save or to Spend? Banner protesting austerity measures in Brussels, Belgium. Photo by Morgan Till/PBS NewsHour. Restricted as this page usually is to questions (and answers), its posts can, I realize, seem more than a bit off the news. This is especially true when the economic world is roiling, as it so often has been of late. So let today's post be a meditation on the roil and in particular, the center-stage question facing the U.S. and Europe, one that has prompted occasionally heated exchanges on my Twitter. The quandary is obvious: stimulus or austerity? In economic jargon, Keynesian or the Austrian School? In plainer terms, save or spend? But which is the right answer? Each ... Continue reading →
