For people struggling to get by on minimum wage, one of the biggest challenges is housing. Since 2009, the federal minimum wage has been set at $7.25 an hour, or roughly $1,256 per month. Most financial experts say an affordable…
When you read news stories about the middle class in America, you often see terms such as “squeezed” or “declining.” As a 2017 study by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) points out, average lifetime earnings for U.S. workers…
For over a decade, the U.S. economy was going pretty strong. Unemployment and inflation were both under control. The COVID-19 pandemic brought that to an end, driving the country into a brief but severe recession. Now, as the pandemic slowly…
The early 2020s were a tough time for the U.S. economy. They began with the COVID-19 pandemic, which snarled global supply chains and triggered a short but painful recession. Then, as the economy reopened, increased spending sent inflation to levels…
There’s one topic that seems to be on everybody’s mind these days. In news headlines, on the radio, on social media, everyone’s asking: Is the U.S. in a recession? And if a recession hasn’t hit yet, how long before it…
Interest rates affect nearly every facet of your financial life. When you put money in a savings account or buy bonds, you earn interest. When you borrow money, you have to pay interest to the lender. The actual rate you…
The events of early 2020 were completely unexpected. No one could have predicted the coronavirus pandemic or the global recession that resulted from the decline in economic activity as countries struggled to control the spread of the virus. But even…
Quick Look The Credit Card Competition Act is a bipartisan bill intended to lower credit card processing fees. The goal is to inject some much-needed competition into the credit card network market, lowering prices on retail goods and allowing smaller…
Economic historians — and anyone who lived through it — will remember 2022 as a year of rapidly rising interest rates. From closely watched benchmarks like the federal funds rate to rates on mortgages, auto loans, and credit cards, the…
Quick Look The gold standard is a failed monetary system in which the value of a currency is directly linked to gold. While it sounds like a good idea, there are more cons than pros. A look at the history…
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