Yesterday we posted on the significant rise in U.S. wealth inequality. Now, the Census Bureau is reporting that income inequality continued to grow in 2011. The top fifth now takes in 50% of the nation's income.
That's what this report issued by the FDIC shows. A Washington Post story on the report says that In the aftermath of one of the worst recessions in history, more Americans have limited or no interaction with banks, instead relying on check cashers and payday lenders to manage their finances, according to a new federal […]
Lauren E. Willis of Loyola Los Angeles, always a thoughtful writer, has authored When Nudges Fail: Slippery Defaults. Here's the abstract: Inspired by the success of “automatic enrollment” in increasing participation in defined contribution retirement savings plans, policymakers have put similar policy defaults in place in a variety of other contexts, from checking account overdraft […]
In 1962, the net worth of the wealthiest 1% of Americans had 125 times the net worth of the median household. That number is now 288, according to a study by the Economic Policy Institute. That study is discussed in this CNNMoney article. EPI's full report provides many more details. Note the chart below, which […]
Vicki Been of NYU, Howell E. Jackson of Harvard, and Mark A. Willis of NYU have written Essay: Sticky Seconds – The Problems Second Liens Pose to the Resolution of Distressed Mortgages. Here's the abstract: Almost five years into the foreclosure crisis, policymakers, the mortgage industry, consumers and taxpayers all express disappointment over the slow […]
Another company reacts to AT&T v. Concepcion. A Forbes article yesterday notes that Microsoft is now including forced arbitration and class-action bans in its customer agreements. The article explains: Recently, [Microsoft] made changes to the Services Agreement governing Hotmail, SkyDrive, Bing, Windows Live Messenger and other online services. The key provision in the Agreement requires […]
Of course, debt collectors always make money because people's loans are in default. But student loan debt appears to be especially attractive for debt collectors, as explained in this article by Andrew Martin. Why? Among other reasons, the government helps debt collectors track down many of the debtors, and it is very hard to discharge […]
Here's an explanation: U.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren is a superstar within the Democratic Party and a lightning rod for Republican outrage over the issue of tax fairness. But there is one tax that Warren doesn't like and it's part of Obamacare. The 2.3 percent excise tax on medical devices is a little-known provision in […]
This article by Todd Ruger compares the views of President Obama and former Governor Romeny on legal issues, including judicial nominations.
This Washington Post article from last Friday explains that a coalition of the top state highway safety officers want to ban hand-held cell phone use by drivers. But their ultimate goal is probably a ban on all cell-phone use by drivers — hand-held or hands-free — because, as we've explained earlier, studies show that hands-free cell […]