More Americans are struggling to pay their medical bills, a hardship that could have a detrimental effect on their credit scores. According to the 2010 Commonwealth Fund Biennial Health Insurance Survey, a sobering 29 percent — …
debt
50 Percent Interest and Jail Time For Credit Card Debt?
Despite the gains we’ve have made chipping away at our collective debt, many Americans still struggle to balance the weight of their credit card debt every month. People carrying a lot of debt have little opportunity to transfer …
Does the West Need a New Growth Model?
As shown by yet another global stock selloff, investors have finally woken to the reality that we have not yet recovered from the 2008 financial crisis. Many smart economists had been warning that this time was different, that we …
When is $11.4 Trillion in Debt an Improvement?
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York released a report on Monday that shows America is chipping away at its collective debt — but slowly. According to the Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit, overall consumer debt was down by $50 billion at the end of June. If that seems like a lot, it’s not; in fact, it’s a measly 0.4 percent …
Oh No They Didn’t: Econ Bloggers React to the S&P Downgrade
Standard & Poor’s was heavily criticized for its decision on Friday to downgrade for the first time in its history the credit rating of the debt of the United States. Politicians, and in particular Republicans, came under fire for having let the debt ceiling standoff go on for so long. And it was unlikely that the downgrade would do …
What the S&P U.S. Credit Rating Downgrade Means
Ignore all the grumbling you will hear in the next few days about Standard & Poor’s. Yes, the ratings agency miscalled tens of billions of dollars of mortgage bonds leading up to the financial crisis. Yes, it’s an organization fraught with conflicts of interest, where debt issuers game the system to get the highest ratings. And yes, even …
Why an American Downgrade Will Hit Your Wallet Harder Than You Think
So here’s my prediction: America’s debt is going to be downgraded and the ramifications of that will be worse than many think.
And don’t count me as a debt worrier. I don’t actually think the U.S.’s debt is a problem, at least not yet. But to those people who do fret about the debt, which apparently includes the ratings agency …
Top 10 Consumer Complaints
What’s getting consumers up in arms lately? Check out the list that follows. Working with various state, local, and federal consumer agencies, the Consumer Federation of America has gathered and sifted through more than 252,000 …
Debt Debate: Does the U.S. Have a Spending Problem?
A week to go until Debt Ceiling Armageddon, and the bond market and the Dow Jones industrial average seem to be taking the Washington impasse in stride. Stocks were down on Monday, but not much. The price of a 10-year government bond, which you would expect to be affected by the debt default, was down slightly, and yields were near …
Should You Buy a House with a Ton of Student Loan Debt?
Liz Weston, one of the best personal finance experts out there, recently received this question from a reader:
Next year we will be shopping for a house in the $150,000-to-$200,000 range and hope to have $20,000 to $30,000 saved for a down payment. We have about $75,000 in student loans we are paying down. Would it be better to
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Debt Ceiling: Could a Deal Cost the Economy a Million Jobs?
There has been a lot written about what would happen if the government doesn’t end up raising the debt limit. My colleague Alex Altman perhaps puts it best in this Swampland post, where he says:
On one side, the Obama Administration, Capitol Hill Democrats, Wall Street whizzes and budget experts have been wearing out their thesauruses
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Surprise, U.S. Debt is Falling
Is debt in the U.S. rising or falling?
If you have been following the fight in Washington about the debt ceiling and whether the US should be allowed to borrow more money, the answer probably seems obvious. But the obvious answer, as usual, is wrong. The U.S., when you look at our overall debt, is in a much better position that the …