Designer coats and crystal glasses can be hard sells in a tough economy. But lipstick is another story. At least that’s the thinking behind the “lipstick index,” termed by Leonard Lauder, chairman emeritus of cosmetics company Estée Lauder, in 2001 to explain the surge in lipstick sales during that recession.
Lately, the lipstick …
So we all by now know the story of how the global economy fell into the 2008 financial crisis. Banks gorged themselves on high-yielding U.S. subprime mortgage securities, which were awarded top credit ratings (perhaps fraudulently). When those investments proved as financially sound as the over-leveraged homeowners behind them, the …
Presidential hopeful Rick Perry says Social Security is a Ponzi scheme, but even he knows better. So why would he tell such a lie? Perry wants to ignite a discussion about real spending issues that most politicians won’t touch.
Yesterday morning, Target began selling clothes, accessories, and home furnishings from its new Missoni for Target collection. To say that Target’s collaboration with the Italian fashion house has been a hit is putting it mildly. …
It’s not your imagination: It really is more crowded at mom and dad’s place. The Census Bureau made headlines yesterday with news that the nation’s official poverty rate hit 15.1%, the highest since 1993. Tough times have also translated into a rise in adult children moving back into (or never leaving) their parent’s homes. In the spring
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The 2011 Kia Optima Hybrid is estimated to get a solid 40 mpg on the highway. But a team of “hypermiling” specialists—who utilize special driving techniques to boost a vehicle’s fuel economy—just finished a trip through every …
After a couple years of austerity, we’re again racking up credit card debt at an alarming clip.
Early on in the financial crisis, economists warned that the biggest danger of the bailouts was that we would end up with zombie banks – institutions kept alive by government bailouts, but essentially doomed to rot away. Recent news about Bank of America raises the question as to whether B of A has turned into a classic zombie. On
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Reasonably enough, Americans hate almost everything about the real estate recession. Underwater owners hate that they can neither sell nor refinance, distressed homeowners and consumer advocates hate robo-signing, and just about
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You know the economy is in a bind when consumers stop spending. But consumer retrenchment can ultimately be a good thing if it allows indebted households to rebuild their wealth. Unfortunately, that’s not how things are playing out for this country’s middle class. The personal savings rate has jumped from near-zero in years past to …
The fragile economy pushed more Americans into poverty last year, according to the Census Bureau, as median household income fell from the year before.
Daily deal site LivingSocial is teaming up with Whole Foods for a very special, first-of-its-kind promotion: Today only (Tuesday, September 13), $10 buys a voucher worth $20 of merchandise at the supermarket chain. LivingSocial …
