If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
The Blog
This debate is not about partisan gamesmanship in Washington but about a potential post-graduation debt increase of $1,000 for every year a subsidized Stafford loan borrower is in school.
We now have entire nations which have become insolvent. It would be very difficult to argue that having a banking crisis is better than enduring a sovereign debt crisis, especially since much of the assets banks hold is sovereign debt.
How good is the Federal Reserve at its job? That can be a difficult question to answer. Monetary policy is subjective, and it can take years before t...
It's nothing new for banks to offer gifts to new customers -- a free toaster is the age-old example. However, a bank in Florida has come up with something a little sexier: a new Mercedes in exchange for opening a 5-year CD.
Despite the trajectory of debt, this generation of college graduates holds better economic prospects than their non-college peers, but with the drag of debt, interest, and the unforgiving lenders holding them back for decades to come.
Today, with instant Internet authorizations and real-time currency conversion, it hardly seems fair to charge a foreign transaction fee. Fortunately, a growing number of banks agree.
While it would be great if all areas could share in this recovery, having some areas of exceptional growth can act as a real catalyst for the economy. With any luck, where these areas of dynamic growth lead, more jobs, stronger sales and higher savings account rates will follow.
What strikes me the most is that neither Paul Krugman nor the Ben Bernanke had the sagacity to completely repudiate the idea that inflation can in any way reduce the unemployment rate. Even a cursory look at the data throughout economic history proves that inflation is a destroyer of jobs.
Only in the crazy world of federal budgetary politics can protecting a 3.4 percent interest rate feel like a victory. After all, the Federal Reserve lends money to commercial banks at a discount rate that currently stands at 0.75 percent.
With the economic recovery still lagging, the intended rewards of the Federal Reserve's aggressive campaign to lower interest rates have yet to be realized. But the cost of that campaign to depositors can be counted, and it may have exceeded $200 billion in the last year alone.
This generation needs higher education more than ever, even as the cost grows increasingly out of reach. From a youth perspective, the guiding principle for the debate is simple: Give all Americans a fair shot at the middle class, at the American Dream.
When I was growing up in Harlem, college was a remote possibility even for the most fortunate black and Hispanic students. But today's young minority men and women should expect nothing less from themselves than a college degree.
Does anyone care that the economy is floundering and that we are not getting out of this crisis anytime soon? Housing values are in the cellar, the Fed foresees unemployment remaining unacceptably high for the next three years, and national economic growth is predicted to be, at best, anemic.
The media and the country are just waking up to the alarming fact that unless Congress acts by July 1, the interest rate on subsidized Stafford student loans will double from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. Congress must not let that happen.
Regional and community banks are often recommended as a solution to the low interest rates offered by large banks -- and for good reason. Unfortunately, the viability of this solution may depend on where you live.
In a futures market, we can actually see what prices are expected to do in the future, unlike most other asset markets. And in oil? We are in backwardation -- meaning that as time goes on, prices goes DOWN. A lot.
