November 21, 2017

From flooding in Texas to Puerto Rico’s struggle to recover after Hurricane Maria, we’ve taken a look at the economic impacts of several natural disasters over the last few months. Whenever we write posts like these, we always include a link to a list of organizations you can donate to if you feel so inclined. Along with spreading awareness, we also want to make sure our readers have access to a reliable selection of charitable options vetted by journalists. Continue reading

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October 10, 2017

aliman-senaiEach year some 12 million Americans take out a payday loan in order to get cash fast. But just because these borrowers can receive a quick injection of capital doesn’t mean they can pay it back with comparable speed. Many people who take out a payday loan end up drowning in a flood of loan fees and high interest rates. Last year alone the industry collected more than $7 billion in fees from customers. Borrowers can become so overwhelmed by Continue reading

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September 19, 2017

tiia-montoThe decline of brick and mortar retail has been one of the biggest business stories of the year, with formerly successful chains like HH Gregg, Payless and others filing for bankruptcy. And this week Toys ‘R’ Us became the latest company to join this unfortunate group. Like so many other traditional retailers, Toys ‘R’ Us couldn’t keep up with the growing dominance of Amazon. The company’s CEO said it would need to slash prices in order to stay afloat, Continue reading

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September 15, 2017

In the 17th century citizens of the Netherlands enjoyed an historic era of art and prosperity known as the Dutch Golden Age. Wealthy merchants spent lavishly on all sorts of luxuries, including a new flower imported from Turkey called the tulip. Demand for tulips reached incredible heights until the bottom suddenly fell out of the market. This short video looks at what many economists consider to be the first market bubble to burst.

Questions:

  1. How does the Dutch tulip craze Continue reading
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August 4, 2017

Since the passage of the Dodd-Frank financial reform act, banks have been required to keep a certain amount of cash on hand relative to their assets. Legislators put the rule in place so that institutions would have enough money in their vaults to bail themselves out in the event of another credit crisis. This video explains the concept of bank capital and why these regulations have caused some frustration in the finance industry.

Questions:

  1. Why are banks required to keep Continue reading
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June 23, 2017

When the economy was on the verge of collapse due to the 2008 financial crisis, the Federal Reserve dropped interest rates to zero in an effort to get money moving around again. The economy is not in such dire straits now, of course, so the Fed has once again returned to raising rates gradually. This video quickly reviews how the Fed works and demonstrates the ways that the central bank affects the nation’s money supply.  

Questions:

  1. What are the Continue reading
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meal-kitFor those who don’t want to take a trip to the grocery store or dine out, meal-kit startups like Blue Apron and HelloFresh bring dinner right to your doorstep. These companies place all the ingredients you need into a box along with detailed instructions about how to prepare your meal. And thanks to incessant advertising through new media platforms like podcasts, meal-kit startups have seen interest from consumers increase year after year. In fact, Blue Apron has been so successful Continue reading

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December 8, 2016

JaminGrayIn 2014 a New York appeals court nearly changed the way that lawmakers deal with cases of insider trading. The dispute centered around two hedge fund managers who passed along confidential information between tipsters like a game of telephone. While the pair had been convicted in their first trial, the decision was eventually overturned upon appeal. This set a precedent for insider trading cases in which the prosecution had to prove that the tipster directly received some sort of compensation Continue reading

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September 14, 2016

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act ranks among the most important laws passed in recent history. It’s also extremely complicated, amounting to some 14,000 pages of various regulations and restrictions. The video below takes a look at one of the key provisions of this landmark bill: The Volcker Rule, or the stipulation that banks cannot act like hedge funds and gamble with their own cash reserves. Although reviled by many on Wall Street, supporters say the rule Continue reading

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July 26, 2016

As anybody with a social media presence knows well, Pokémon Go’s massive popularity has only grown since it landed in American app stores earlier this month. On July 22 the augmented reality game launched in Asia, racking up ten million downloads in Japan on a single day. Still, not everything about the app’s Asian expansion was ideal: Pokémon Go remains banned in China, by far the region’s most lucrative market.

And that’s not the only bad news currently confronting the Continue reading

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