An Update: What We Need to Know About the Debt Ceiling

A debt ceiling controversy could erupt by November 3rd when Jack Lew says the U.S. Treasury will need to borrow to meet its spending obligations.

The Connection Between Your Credit Score and Your Love Life

Because credit card scores predict trustworthiness and financial distress, they indicate whether a co-habitation relationship will be long lasting.

The Importance of Accurately Estimating When We Will Die

Retirement savings and income depend on the person’s prior income, longevity, the macroeconomic environment, Social Security and other entitlement programs.

Part 1: Understanding the Student Loan Crisis

The characteristics of the student loan crisis include a high default and delinquency rate, huge amounts of money and a personal and macroeconomic impact.

Next Week’s Budget Problems

Always contentious, the federal budget needs to be approved by October 1st or a continuing resolution needs to enable discretionary federal spending.

Why a Life Needs a Price Tag

Although it seems callous, for safety regulation like speed limits and for victims’ compensation like 9/11 we need to quantify the value of a life.

Using a Fat Tail to Describe Stock Market Risk

When the unexpected occurs and changes our view of stock market risk, we call it a black swan or fat tail because it is far from the mean of a bell curve.

Some High Speed Trading History

Depending on how fast news travels, high speed trading can be done through homing pigeons or computers but both have created information asymmetry.

The Real Eurozone Problem

Although people in the eurozone want a single currency and their leaders want unity, monetary union problems create political distrust and disunity.

When to Worry About Sovereign Debt

Comparing debt to GDP is like looking at a mortgage loan and household net worth. It can help us decide when a sovereign debt became too large.