I have written on previous occasions about my hypocritical dislike of the American culture of consumption and about various definitions of wealth, what makes people truly happy and other related righteous ponderings. But today I want to talk about real financial wealth - the truly BIG money – and the world of the people who […]

Latin immigrants in the United States, both legal and illegal, are leaving the country or moving around within the U.S. in increasing numbers of late, and it has nothing to do with border patrols, fence-building and immigration legislation. Asked why they’re leaving, many note that the type of available work that made the U.S. so […]

As we approach the open enrollment season – the time of year when employers determine what type of healthcare options and costs they will offer their employees for the coming year – it is becoming clear that many employers are searching desperately for cost-saving measures. Employees, meanwhile, wonder openly about the ongoing affordability – or […]

Depending on what you’re reading or with whom you’re speaking, the current state of the housing market is described as either a slow-down, a correction, a cooling, a bust or any number of other descriptors referring to a significant drop in new housing starts and interested buyers. And all those descriptions are probably accurate, depending […]

In the heady days that marked the 1990s dot-com boom, employee stock options functioned as an almost magical currency between eager would-be employees and their entrepreneurial employers. The appeal of such stock options was apparent to both parties; employees were eager to get a piece of the financial action being generated by what in hindsight […]

If you weren’t one of the lucky ones to have purchased a home prior to the most recent nationwide housing boom, you likely look at current home prices, even after a slight downturn, with a trepidation that borders on outright anxiety. A combination of factors at work in the nationwide economy has unleashed a chain […]

As a student of economics in college, I was as convinced as my professors that the macroeconomic health of the nation was accurately measured by the voluminous array of statistics spewed forth each month by various government agencies – from the Federal Reserve Banks, the Census Bureau, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, et al. […]