Jan 22 How firms avoid U.S. tax codes through pass-through businesses By Making Sen$e Editor The importance of pass-through business entities has soared in the past three decades. Over the same period, the amount of pass-through business income flowing to the top 1 percent of income earners has increased sharply, according to a new paper… Continue reading
Jan 21 Watch 6:51 Hotbeds of genius and innovation depend on these key ingredients By PBS News Hour What kind of environment spawns genius? That’s the question Eric Weiner tackles in his latest book, “The Geography of Genius,” in which Weiner journeys around the world and through time, from Plato’s Athens to Leonardo da Vinci’s Florence, to find… Continue watching
Jan 21 How your neighborhood coffee shop is brewing geniuses By Paul Solman Genius, says author Eric Weiner, is not just born, it's created and cultivated, often in cities. And in 1900 Vienna, the coffee shop was imperative to cultivating the creativity necessary for genius. Continue reading
Jan 21 Can the Fed really fight global economic instability? By Vikram Mansharamani Recent events in the global economy are increasing the likelihood that the Fed will have to reverse its course on raising interest rates. Continue reading
Jan 20 Poverty makes financial decisions harder. Behavioral economics can help By Dan Ariely Making good financial decisions becomes even more difficult when you’re poor. Here's what behavioral economists are doing to make such decisions easier. Continue reading
Jan 20 5 things you should know about Medicare’s new end-of-life discussions By Philip Moeller End-of-life discussions with your physician or other licensed caregiver are now being paid for by Medicare. Continue reading
Jan 19 Watch 7:25 Can China use the slowdown to change its economy? By PBS News Hour China's economy grew last year at the slowest pace since 1990, at a lower-than-expected rate of 6.9 percent. Jeffrey Brown talks to Ken Lieberthal of the Brookings Institute and Cornell economist Eswar Prasad about what that means for China and… Continue watching
Jan 19 Tax cuts help increase budget deficit to $544 billion this year By Andrew Taylor, Associated Press WASHINGTON — A government report released Tuesday estimates that this year's budget deficit will rise to $544 billion, an increase over prior estimates that can be attributed largely to tax cuts and spending increases passed by Congress last month. Continue reading
Jan 19 Mental depletion complicates financial decisions for the poor By Dan Ariely Why does it become more difficult to make good financial decisions when you’re poor?… Continue reading
Jan 18 Does the new Social Security law stop you from reclaiming your suspended benefits? Maybe not By Laurence Kotlikoff Does the lump sum option live on?… Continue reading