Economy Mar 29 Tool$ Tuesday: How States Size Up According to the U.S. Census Bureau the nation grew almost ten percent over the last decade -- from 281.4 million in 2000 to 308.7 million in 2010. The country's racial mix has shifted too. The number of people that…
Economy Mar 28 Economic Forecasters: Crow or Eat Crow Name: Dr. Gene Audette Question: Every year it's prognostications, prognostications. But seldom do "columns" like yours do a retrospective to compare what was predicted to what actually occurred, and to get the same prognosticator to have to defend his/her predictions…
Economy Mar 24 Income Inequality: Where Do You Fall? Updated March 25, 2011 at 1:33 p.m. with a fixed link to the Slate interactive. Income inequality has changed over time: today the richest one percent of Americans hold about 24 percent of U.S. wealth. But almost a century ago…
Economy Mar 23 The Effects of Production Turmoil: What We Pay For At The Pump By Paul Solman and Grace Lamb-Atkinson Ever wonder why a gallon of gas will cost $3.21 today, $3.12 yesterday and maybe $3.79 next week? The price of the gas at the pump fluctuates mainly with the price of crude oil,…
Economy Mar 22 Tool$ Tuesday: How the Government Spends Your Money Just in time for tax season: a tax receipt calculator that shows you how the federal government spends your taxes. It's easy to use: just enter your federal tax amount for 2010 and press 'calculate receipt.' The…
Economy Mar 22 Tool$ Tuesday: How the Government Spends Your Money By Elizabeth Shell Just in time for tax season: a tax receipt calculator that shows you how the U.S. federal government spends your taxes. It's easy to use: just enter your federal tax amount for 2010 and press 'calculate…
Economy Mar 21 Why Weaken the Japanese Yen? The Conflicting Claims of Economics From Thursday's NewsHour: "The Japanese yen settled near record highs against the U.S. dollar today, which make Japanese exports more expensive. Banks and finance ministers of the G7 are considering measures to decrease its value in order to help…
Economy Mar 18 Deflation: Inflation’s Evil Twin Name: Doug Shoaf Question: Given the harm that inflation does to the personal finances of almost every individual in the country, and its tendency to encourage spending and discourage saving, why do so many of our public officials and business…
Economy Mar 16 Live Chat: Economic Inequality EDITOR’S NOTE: Join us live right here on Thursday, March 17 at 3p.m. ET for a chat between Paul Solman, Dante Chinni of Patchwork Nation and Derek Thompson of The Atlantic. The discussion will be…
Economy Mar 16 The Financial Blame Game: Who’s At Fault? Name: Michael Cassady Question: With the suffering from the financial crisis falling mostly on masses of people who were not responsible for causing it, why has there not been a healthy postmortem and acceptance of responsibility before the victims are…