Jul 08 Hobby Lobby hobbles worker voice By Christopher Mackin Worker-ownership adviser Christopher Mackin sees the American workplace lagging behind our political democracy, where "one person, one vote" is the law of the land. But he's hopeful that anger about the Supreme Court's recent Hobby Lobby decision will fuel a… Continue reading
Jul 07 Deciding when to take Social Security widows benefits can’t get more complicated By Laurence Kotlikoff How do you know when you should take any of your Social Security benefits? As Larry Kotilikoff's column often reveals, it's complicated. But figuring out the best time to collect your widow(er)s benefits in relation to your retirement benefit is… Continue reading
Jul 07 A world of woe: Why Malthus was right By Gregory Clark If you had to choose between living in a hunter-gatherer society and pre-industrial England, which would you pick? The more violent hunter-gatherer society was better: you’d live just as long, with more dietary variety and fewer working hours. Economic historian… Continue reading
Jul 04 After the World Cup, what shapes well-being for your country? By Simone Pathe On this Fourth of July, when America has already been knocked out of the World Cup, what factors are most important to your well-being? The OECD is asking citizens to consider what it is they really care about after the… Continue reading
Jul 03 Watch What’s driving the good jobs news for the month of June? By PBS News Hour he unemployment rate in the U.S. dropped to 6.1 percent in June, its lowest point since just before the financial crisis of 2008. Moreover, a strong hiring report is lifting hopes that momentum is building in the jobs market. Economics… Continue watching
Jul 03 A better-than-expected birthday present for U.S. in June jobs report By Simone Pathe Despite concerns about sluggish growth in the first quarter of 2014, the unemployment rate dropped to its lowest level since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008, and the economy added more than 200,000 jobs for the fifth straight month… Continue reading
Jul 03 Unemployment hits lowest level since Lehman’s collapse By Simone Pathe The American economy added 288,000 jobs in June and the unemployment rate dropped to 6.1 percent, the lowest since September 2008, when Lehman Brothers collapsed and the financial crisis began. Despite weak economic growth during the first quarter of 2014,… Continue reading
Jul 02 The new new thing: Negative interest rates — but will they work? By Benn Steil, Dinah Walker Last month, the European Central Bank became the first central bank to charge banks for depositing their extra reserves with them. The idea is to encourage banks to lend privately instead. But as the Council on Foreign Relations' Benn Steil… Continue reading
Jun 30 How your lifetime Social Security benefits could be higher By Laurence Kotlikoff Social Security expert Larry Kotlikoff shows two couples who are facing disabilities how to increase their lifetime benefits. First of all, they have to scrap their current collection strategies and realize that what they want to do and what they… Continue reading
Jun 30 Interest rates on new student loans will increase Tuesday By Kimberly Hefling, Associated Press The change stems from a high-profile, bipartisan deal brokered last year by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama that ties the rates to the financial markets. Interest rates go from 3.86 to 4.66 percent on undergraduate Stafford loans. Graduate… Continue reading