Personal Economics 101

Business, technology, environmental and economic changes are a part of life, and they are coming faster all the time. All of these changes and advancements can be distracting and make us more vulnerable to cyber scams. That's why protecting your credit is a critical part of protecting yourself from cyber security threats. Security researchers have reported that hackers and scammers are using any opportunity or vulnerability to target both individuals and companies. You may have already seen these attempts in the form of fake emails or calls. Here are the top five questions Equifax ®  has received about how individuals can protect themselves from cyber security threats and help to improve your credit protection. 1. How can I better protect my credit? Check your credit reports frequently. You can get free credit reports from the nationwide credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian ®  and TransUnion ® ) at annualcreditreport.com. Check your credit reports frequently to closely...

The Texas Senate on Thursday approved a $500 million school choice bill mostly along party lines after hours of passionate debate. It will now head for consideration in the House, where members rejected similar proposals during the regular session. Senators passed Senate Bill 1 by a 18-13 vote, with one Republican joining all Democrats in voting against the measure. The bill will likely face steep resistance in the House, where Democratic members and many rural Republicans have vehemently opposed such proposals. School choice programs, also called education savings accounts or vouchers, use public money to help pay for a child’s private schooling. “We must recognize that a one-size-fits-all approach doesn't fit the needs of our diverse student population,” said Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, who authored SB 1 and estimated the proposal could serve about 60,000 students. Texas has about 5.5 million children in public schools. Public schools have failed the American people, especi...

A new study by two scholars at the University of North Carolina and a professor at Texas A&M examined the impact of DEI programs in corporate America and found no evidence that these programs lead to higher returns. The study reported: “The business case for diversity” is the dominant rhetorical paradigm for how U.S. corporations debate actions and policies around racial/ethnic diversity. In this paper, we conduct an empirical test of the paradigm by gathering data on the race/ethnicity of the individuals shown on the leadership pages of S&P 500 firms’ websites as of mid-2011, 2014, 2017, 2020 and 2021, and then determining if any of nine measures of the racial/ethnic diversity of these executives reliably predict…their firms’ financial performance over the next fiscal year. We do not find reliable evidence that they do. As such, our results do not support the “business case for diversity” when the claim is assessed using 1-year-ahead financial performance metrics and multiple ...

Given the recent events in the Middle East, how dangerous is this Biden energy policy? Biden abused his power when he drained our Strategic Petroleum Reserve in an attempt to lower oil and gas prices, so his popularity wouldn't wane. While that didn't work, he has placed this country in a perilous position. As if his open borders wasn't threat enough. And it's also worth remembering that Chuck Schumer blocked Trump's request to buy 77 million barrels in March 2020, when lockdowns had pushed the spot price close to zero:

They used to embrace Stalin and Mao. So I'm not surprised... For nearly 100 years, the political Left prided itself on being the side of peace and anti-militarism. The Western left supported peace talks in the Middle East, backed a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict, and called for noncombatant lives to be spared.  But over the past week, loud voices on the radical Left endorsed Hamas’ brutal and horrific terrorist attack on Israeli civilians. Several left-wing organizations released statements that appeared to condone the attack. The day after Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) held a protest “in solidarity with the Palestinian people and their right to resist 75 years of occupation and apartheid.”  Thirty-four Harvard student organizations signed a joint statement excusing the murder and kidnapping of women and children. “The apartheid regime is the only one to blame,” the statement read. “The coming days will require a f...

1. Obstacles are opportunities Marcus mastered the art of turning every obstacle into an opportunity. Nothing was universally negative in his mind. In this vein, every hardship has at least one positive aspect. 2. Don't spend time worrying about what people think of you "Your energy and time are both limited, so don't waste them on what those inconsequential to your life are doing thinking and saying." 3. Focus on the present "Each of us lives only now, this brief instant. The rest has been lived already, or it impossible to see." 4. You are the architect of your perceptions "You have the power over your mind -- not outside events. Realize this and you will find strength." 5. Value the right things in life and your life will have value “A person’s worth is measured by the worth of what he values.” 6. No goal is out of reach “Because a thing seems difficult for you, do not think it impossible for anyone to accomplish.” 7. Be grateful for what you h...

 

The Richest Man in Babylon  is an absolute gem of a book that imparts timeless financial wisdom in a captivating and relatable manner. George S. Clason's storytelling takes you on a journey to the ancient city of Babylon, where simple yet profound financial principles come to life. This book is a masterpiece in teaching the art of managing money, showcasing principles like saving a portion of your income, investing wisely, and living within your means. Through relatable parables and anecdotes, Clason delivers valuable lessons that remain as relevant today as they were when the book was written. What sets this book apart is its ability to simplify complex financial concepts. The storytelling format makes it engaging and easy to understand, even for those who are new to financial literacy. As you follow the characters' journeys to financial success, you'll find yourself not only entertained but also inspired to apply the lessons to your own life. "The Richest Man in Baby...

You'll find these concepts of Stoicism in Meditations  by Marcus Aurelias , a Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher.

Trillion Dollar Deficits as Far as The Eye Can See From Investopedia The Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives passed a funding bill on Saturday evening, avoiding a shutdown.  The bill will fund government operations through November 17, leaving the door open for future negotiations. It includes natural disaster relief, but there is no additional funding for Ukraine to continue fighting Russia. There is also no additional funding for border security, but it does have funds to keep the Federal Aviation Administration operational. The House bill received strong Democratic support after Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy reversed his stance on seeking bipartisan support. Lawmakers  worked to avoid the federal government's fourth partial shutdown in a decade, which was set to come into force at 12:01 a.m. Sunday (Oct 1). The Democratic-majority Senate passed the bill. The House voted 335-91 to continue funding the government for 45 days and received more support from Democr...

If you think the world is coming to an end, think again: people are living longer, healthier, freer, and happier lives, and while our problems are formidable, the solutions lie in the Enlightenment ideal of using reason and science. Is the world really falling apart? Is the ideal of progress obsolete? In this elegant assessment of the human condition in the third millennium, cognitive scientist and public intellectual Steven Pinker urges us to step back from the gory headlines and prophecies of doom, which play to our psychological biases. Instead, follow the data: In seventy-five jaw-dropping graphs, Pinker shows that life, health, prosperity, safety, peace, knowledge, and happiness are on the rise, not just in the West, but worldwide. This progress is not the result of some cosmic force. It is a gift of the Enlightenment: the conviction that reason and science can enhance human flourishing. Far from being a naïve hope, the Enlightenment, we now know, has worked. But more than ever, i...

Eagle Pass is the latest Texas town to be overwhelmed by our border crisis. It has 28,000 residents, two hospitals, and a police force of 100 people. Thousands of migrants are arriving in the town every day. Mayor Rolando Salinas issued a disaster declaration. Over just three days of this crisis, three migrants died near the crossing, including a three-year-old. Migrants are overwhelming the border because the Biden administration dismantled the web of executive orders and the remain-in-Mexico policy that successfully stopped the crisis under the last administration. The new amnesty for Venezuelans will not improve matters. This humanitarian disaster is a choice Biden made. (National Review, Sept 28, 2023) Eagle Pass, Texas Joe Biden's Intentional Crisis The continuing incursion of illegal border crossers into the United States is the most astonishing story in American politics. There have been days recently in which 10,000 people crossed illegally into the country -- and remember,...

Top 10 States Receiving Department of Defense spending Virginia ($62.7 billion) Texas ($58 billion) California ($56.2 billion) Florida ($30.2 billion) New York ($28.1 billion) Maryland ($26.4 billion) Connecticut ($22.3 billion) Pennsylvania ($17.9 billion) Massachusetts ($15.2 billion) Arizona ($15 billion) See all the states here .

History Channel: How Many Times Has the Federal Government Shut Down? In the United States, a government shutdown happens when there is a gap in federal funding and the government furloughs federal workers without pay. Although there are exceptions for certain “essential” employees (including the president and members of Congress, all of whom continue to receive pay) a shutdown means that a large portion of the federal government stops functioning . Kelly Evans: The $2 trillion deficit: how did we get here? It’s a little unnerving that we’re seeing record budget deficits, soaring government debt, and steadily rising interest rates--all at the same time. How much of this can be undone? And how did we get here? The short answer is, government spending remains notably higher than it was pre-Covid, while revenues are more or less the same. And the fact that both deficits and debt are higher than in the past while our borrowing costs have soared means that paying interest is also taking up ...

Previously, here and here .  Even 'Fact-Checkers' Can’t Cover Biden Losing 85,000 Kids & Flying In Migrants Under Joe Biden’s centralized federal bureaucracy, the migrant flood along the borders of southern US states has become such a pressing problem that many conservatives are starting to acknowledge the wisdom of federalism and of states to handle things unfettered by the feds. And many are acknowledging that, no matter how many old-guard news agencies and how many US bureaus try to hide the truth, this federal immigration bureaucracy is both losing track of vulnerable migrant kids who have been separated from their parents, and also literally flying migrants into and around the US – while trying to keep it quiet. Kamala Harris Fails to End Border Crisis, So Biden Taps Her to Also End Gun Violence Despite her failure to secure the nation’s border, Pres. Joe Biden’s Border Czar – Vice Pres. Kamala Harris – has been given a new responsibility: stopping gun violence. On Im...

If you’ve traveled to New York or San Francisco recently, you’ve likely noticed the price of your Starbucks order change from terminal to terminal. The difference is due to price level variation throughout the United States. The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) recently released data detailing the disparities in spending power across metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas of each state for calendar year 2021. Using the data, we can compare how much $100 buys across the country. The differences can be large and they have significant implications for the relative impact of economic and tax policies across the United States. $100 tends to buy the least in large cities in the Northeast, California, and the Pacific Northwest. On the other hand, $100 goes the furthest in rural areas in the Southeast and Midwest. Prices can vary significantly within states too—$100 in California tends to buy $89.45 worth of goods on average, but in the Los Angeles area, $100 can purchase about $87.86 worth...

More than reversing a notable two-day drop, rates on 30-year mortgages roared back Thursday, surging almost a quarter percentage point higher to set a new historic record. Rates for every single mortgage type were up Thursday, with most averages rising by double-digit basis points. Mortgage Rates Rise Across the Board, Setting New Record for 30-Year Average Kelly Evans: Who is really raising rates in Washington?

By Victor Davis Hanson Since early 2021 we have witnessed somewhere between 7 million and 8 million illegal entries across the now-nonexistent southern border of the U.S. The more the border vanished, the more federal immigration law was rendered inert, and the more Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas spun fantasies that the “border is secure.” He is now written off as a veritable “Baghdad Bob” propagandist. But how and why did the Biden administration destroy immigration law as we knew it? The Trump administration’s initial efforts to close the border had been continually obstructed in the Congress, sabotaged by the administrative state, and stymied in the courts. Nonetheless, it finally had secured the border by early 2020. Yet almost all the Trump administration’s successful initiatives were immediately overturned in 2021. Construction of the wall was abruptly stopped, its projected trajectory canceled. The disastrous Obama-era “ catch and release ” policy of immigration...

American Has Fallen, And Can't Get Up ...There’s no denying the crisis. In some areas, the border between Texas and Mexico looks like a refugee camp in sub-Saharan Africa. There are thousands of African and Latin American migrants coming through daily. More than two million came last year, over 5,000 per day, and nearly as many will come this year. ...That hardly means we’re helpless to stop the flow. This year, for the first time, US Border Control is encountering more migrants from outside Latin America than from within it. That means people are flying from Africa to Latin America and entering through Mexico. Is this part of a plan by Democratic leaders to expand the voting rolls? Some Republicans say so. And in California, some progressive politicians want to give undocumented immigrants the right to vote. They already provide official California state driver’s licenses and IDs. But if that was the plan, it’s turning the nation against them The migrants are overwhelming not ju...

from Gary D. Halbert's "Between the Lines " President Joe Biden officially kicked off his 2024 re-election campaign in August, and he has been crisscrossing the country with campaign stops since then. His main re-election pitch is that the US economy is surging as a result of his economic policies. On that subject, the president repeatedly touts that the US economy has added almost  13.5 million new jobs  since he took office in January 2021. If true, that would be more jobs than created by any previous president over four years. The question is:  Is it true?  The answer is a little complicated but I’ll sort it out for you below. The fact is, nearly 13.5 million jobs have been gained since Mr. Biden took office. But what is critical to realize is that the vast majority of those new jobs were simply  businesses which shut down during Covid and are now reopening  – and calling back their laid-off workers. The issue when it comes to President Biden claiming he...

By SABRINA KARL , Investopedia Rates on 30-year mortgages rose again Monday, adding to the jump they saw Friday and pushing the flagship average almost back to the historic 22-year high it registered earlier this month. Averages for most other loan types were flat to mildly up Monday, with only a couple of averages declining. Rates on 30-year new purchase mortgages gained 6 basis points Monday, after jumping 16 basis points Friday. That raises the 30-year average to 7.82%, which is just barely below Sept. 7's historic reading of 7.84%—its highest mark since 2001. Monday rates on 15-year loans rose only a minor 2 basis points, nudging the average to 7.15%. Like 30-year rates, the 15-year average is now back within a couple of basis points of its recent peak—a 21-year high of 7.17% reached in mid-August. Jumbo 30-year rates held steady for a second day Monday, at the average's high-water mark of 7.02%. Though daily jumbo averages are not available before 2009, it's reasonable...

By Stephen Culp , Reuters The mood amongst U.S. homebuilders took an unexpected dour turn this month. The National Association of Home Builders' (NAHB) Housing Market index (USNAHB=ECI) slid five points to land at 45 - the lowest since April - defying analyst expectations that it would hold firm at a neutral 50, which is the dividing line between optimism and pessimism. Coming on the heels of a 7-point drop in August, the residential construction sector is feeling the stress of rising mortgage rates; the average 30-year fixed contract rate has been above the 7% level since early August, and applications for loans to purchase homes are down 27.5% from a year ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. "High mortgage rates are clearly taking a toll on builder confidence and consumer demand, as a growing number of buyers are electing to defer a home purchase until long-term rates move lower," writes Robert Dietz, NAHB's chief economist. Home construction initiall...

Get the book at ThriftBooks:  Think and Grow Rich  

Note: As of 9 AM, GM is up .58 or 1.72% to $34.24, while Ford is up .10 or .7% to $12.72.  Sometimes I side with the unions, but mostly I don't. In this case, the UAW has asked for too much, in my opinion. Democrats talk about greedy companies all the time, but ignore greedy workers.  Full-time assembly plant workers at Ford and GM earn $32.32 an hour, while part-timers currently make about $17 an hour. Full-time employees at Stellantis earn $31.77 an hour, and part-time workers earn close to $16 an hour. The $32 an hour translates to approximately $67,000 annually, based on a 40-hour work week. According to the U.S. BLS, the median wage in 2022 was $54,132. So the plant workers are already making above-average pay, some 25% more. They want that $32 an hour to go up some 40 percent over four years, or to about $45 an hour. This equates to $94,000 a year, based on a 40-hour work week. The strike will initially target one plant at each of the Big Three automakers and will not in...