Take a look at your next pay stub. There should be a heading labeled FICA along with a specific dollar amount underneath it. Do you know what that is? Most people do not, except to say that it is something they know is deducted from their pay every week. It turns out that FICA, also known as the Federal Insurance Contributions Act of 1939, officially established what we now know as the Social Security system.
Every night on the evening news, you see numbers relating to the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and the S&P 500. The broadcasters seem completely confident talking about these numbers, but do they really know what the numbers mean? What’s more, do you really know what they mean?
Now that the 2014 midterm elections are behind us, political pundits and economists are turning their eyes to the 2016 presidential election. That means for the next two years, you will be hearing a lot more about something known as the consumer price index (CPI). This number, published regularly by the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS), is intrinsically tied to inflation.
The Better Business Bureau, also known as the BBB, is a nonprofit organization involved in consumer advocacy since 1912. American consumers have trusted the BBB for decades as a source of valuable information about companies of all sizes. However, many consumers misunderstand what the BBB is and how it functions. Here are the most important things you need to know about this organization. Read the rest of this entry »
When you hear politicians mention economic policies, do you understand what they are talking about? If not, it’s important that you learn. Economic policies not only affect government operations and national economies, they affect what goes on around your kitchen table. The more you know about economic policies, the better you will be able to make decisions that affect you personally.
Anyone who has purchased a home has probably heard the term “amortizationâ€. However, that does not necessarily mean every homeowner understands it. Amortization is an easy concept for bankers and mortgage lenders to grasp because they have been trained in all the fine details of borrowing and lending. It is not so easy for the average consumer.
We hear an awful lot about inflation, especially during tough economic times, but what about deflation. The concept of deflation might be foreign to most of us because we hear of it so rarely. Truth be told, deflation is just the opposite of inflation. It can be equally damaging to an economy.
The Clayton Act, also known as the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914, was introduced to correct some of the inadequacies of the previously passed Sherman Act of 1890. The latter legislation was intended to deal with monopolies once they were found to dominate a given market. The Clayton Act changed the dynamic by outlawing some of the practices that would enable a company to become a monopoly.
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