Category Archives: Economy

Consumers Regaining Financial Health

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Popular Economics Weekly

Popular Economics Weekly Consumers are spending for the holidays. Retail sales in particular have rebounded to almost pre-recession levels. Overall retail sales in November grew 0.2 percent, following a 0.6 percent boost in October (originally up 0.5 percent) and a … Continue reading →

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2011—The Year That Wasn’t

Posted on December 11, 2011 by Popular Economics Weekly

Popular Economics Weekly What do we make of this year’s economy, with its ups and downs that have confused even the ‘experts’; and what to make of 2012? Believe it or not, the congressional gridlock that caused the S&P Treasury … Continue reading →

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Austerity (That) Doesn’t Work

Posted on December 3, 2011 by Popular Economics Weekly

Financial FAQs It turns out that austerity doesn’t work, when it means tax cuts for the wealthy but spending (and so income) cuts for the rest of US. But austerity does work when applied to the wealthiest who have used … Continue reading →

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Elizabeth Warren’s Teach-in

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Popular Economics Weekly

Popular Economics Weekly What better way to understand Elizabeth Warren’s bid for Massachusetts Senator to replace Scott Brown that conduct a Teach-in, much as the OccupyWallStreeters are doing. She stands for what we all need, after all, more knowledge on … Continue reading →

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Housing Picture is Better Than We Know

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Popular Economics Weekly

The Mortgage Corner There have been some developments that tell us housing prices could stabilize and new home construction pick up in the New Year. This is even thought the continuing fall in housing prices has stymied any growth prospects, … Continue reading →

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Consumers Feel Better

Posted on November 30, 2011 by Popular Economics Weekly

Popular Economics Weekly Black Friday, or the day after Thanksgiving, was an eye-opener. Sales jumped 7 percent, a record, and Monday’s cyber-sales followed its lead. How can consumers be spending so much with incomes that aren’t rising as much? One … Continue reading →

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What Decline of Western Civilization?

Posted on November 25, 2011 by Popular Economics Weekly

Financial FAQs It’s hard to know whether Harvard Historian Niall Ferguson means what he says in his new book, “Civilization: The West and the Rest”; that the Western World’s 500 years of predominance are over, thanks to growing debt problems … Continue reading →

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Let’s Put Americans Back to Work

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Popular Economics Weekly

Financial FAQs It’s becoming evident that rather than political gridlock, such as the congressional supercommittee’s obsession with spending cuts, we need to worry about economic growth and jobs. And there are some very good ideas on how to do that, … Continue reading →

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Employment Report Means Holiday Cheers!

Posted on November 12, 2011 by Popular Economics Weekly

Popular Economics Weekly Not only were the employment numbers for the past 3 months much higher than originally estimated, but job openings are growing. All we need now is for consumers’ credit conditions to ease to bring back their confidence. … Continue reading →

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Dear Supercommittee: “It’s Consumer Spending, Stupid!”

Posted on November 3, 2011 by Popular Economics Weekly

Financial FAQs “With only about a month remaining before its recommendations are due, lawmakers on the congressional supercommittee charged with finding savings from the federal budget wrestled with cuts to defense, foreign aid and other programs on Wednesday”, said Bloomberg … Continue reading →

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