Bernanke & Co. Play A Confidence Game
April 2, 2008On an August Sunday in 1971, President Richard M. Nixon ordered the world to trust the full faith and credit of the United States. The world, having no alternative, obliged. Today’s disorderly credit markets, and the response by U.S. policy-makers who seem desperate to avoid a recession, may put the world’s trust in America and its currency to the greatest test yet. The worst economic turmoil since the 1970s could …
Worst-Case Scenario Is Not Pretty
April 1, 2008America and the world have a lot to lose if we exhaust other countries’willingness to fund our borrow-and-spend tendencies. Already, the huge volume of money that Washington and other governments printed in recent years is driving up demand for commodities well beyond the capacity of producers to meet it. From oil to corn to iron ore, prices of basic materials are soaring around the world. Except for food and fuel, …
Coping With Upside-Down Mortgages
April 1, 2008Finally, after a year on the market, your house has sold. But you’d better bring your checkbook to the closing, because the money you’re getting from the buyer may not pay off your mortgage. That scenario, so unlikely during the housing bubble, has become an unhappy reality for many homeowners looking to sell. Today, the inventory of homes is high, the credit market has tightened, the pool of potential buyers …
Letters to the Editor
April 1, 2008Editor’s Note: Two articles on retirement plans and Social Security in our January 2008 issue (Pensions, Promises And Lies by Larry M. Elkin and Retiring On The Backs Of Young Workers by Anna K. Pfaehler) drew several responses from readers. We welcome the opportunity to present other viewpoints. All submissions are published at the editor’s discretion. To The Editor: Although many of Anna Pfaehler’s points are well taken, she made …
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