The preliminary estimate of United States third quarter economic growth was released today. The growth number is 2.8 percent, stronger than any of the three quarters prior. The quarter 2 growth rate was 2.5 percent, […]
Read moreOne of the major components of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform bill (The Dodd-Frank Act) is the Volcker Rule that is designed to prevent banks from engaging in proprietary (or “prop”) trading, or in acquiring […]
Read moreMy favorite economics chart shows income divided by population (this is income per person) on the vertical axis and time on the horizontal axis. The time line runs from prehistoric times to the modern era […]
Read moreI have written several essays lately on various aspects of what I call the Sustainable Financial Plan (SFP). My colleague at CLU, Bill Watkins, suggests that I produce a simplified version of these essays that […]
Read moreDan Hamilton & Sean Liu As expected, China’s 2013 second quarter economic growth slowed, recording 7.6 percent compared with 7.7 percent in quarter 1. This data was released July 15th. This is a real growth […]
Read moreThe U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released their annual comprehensive revision of the national income and product accounts on Wednesday, July 31. Most of the Financial news websites focused primarily on the first estimate […]
Read moreIn a prior blog I have discussed the components of building a sustainable financial plan. There were two key steps: first, take into account your “human capital” which is the present value of your estimated […]
Read moreHow much debt is it reasonable for individuals to undertake? I propose two criteria for answering this question. First, you must be able to service the debt. Second, the debt should be “productive” in the […]
Read moreWhen I worked for the Fed, there were televisions in our building’s gym, and they were always tuned to a financial channel. We joked about how the talking heads had an explanation for every market […]
Read moreMistakes In 2012, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke1 gave a speech on the importance of financial education. People commonly make financial mistakes such as saving too little, taking on too much debt, holding too little […]
Read morePreviously Published in the Orange County Register on May 20. The headline read, “USC steals 2 star brain researchers from UCLA.” But there is much more to the story than what was in the article, […]
Read moreOne of the lessons that many people have taken from the financial crisis is that there was too much debt and leverage and too little equity capital. Capital serves as a buffer against loss. If […]
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