by Hans Eisenbeis
WHAT’S HAPPENING
When U.S. consumers swipe their debit cards, they’re typically asked to choose “credit” or “debit” for the transaction. The first requires a signature, the second a PIN, but either way the money still comes out of a savings or checking account. But what if consumers really had the [...]
by Hans Eisenbeis
WHAT’S HAPPENING
For decades, consumers typically paid off their debts in a predictable way: Each month, they paid secured obligations first, and then worried about making their credit card payments. But that tradition got turned on its head at the outset of the Great Recession, and the trend has continued and strengthened (PaymentsNews.com 2.3.10).
A [...]
by Abelardo de la Peña Jr.
WHAT’S HAPPENING
Another recession situation: Latinos are pulling out the credit cards more often for everyday necessities, but also worrying about not being able to pay down the debt, according to a National Council of La Raza report (ChicanoNews.net 1.19.10).
The report, based on findings from focus groups conducted in Chicago, Atlanta, [...]
by Cree McCree
WHAT’S HAPPENING
They may have boomeranged to their old bedrooms, but young adults are looking ahead. Despite (or perhaps because of) a worrisome economy, more Millennials are saving, Ohio State University researchers found.
Though under-30s save less in real dollars than their elders, they sock away a bigger percentage of income. 61% spend less than [...]
by Hans Eisenbeis
WHAT’S HAPPENING
PayPal has launched a clever online tool that lets friends and acquaintances bribe each other into doing little jobs for each other. The website, DoStuffForMoney.com, facilitates the bribery through Facebook or email.
The briber offers a sum of money to his or her bribee, along with any additional commentary. Recent examples, published at [...]
WHAT’S HAPPENING
Mexicans leave their home country to seek work in the U.S. The money they send home sustains families left behind. What happens when the jobs, and the salaries, dry up? Money starts flowing north.
According to government officials, money-transfer operators, immigration experts and relatives of out-of-work migrants, families are scraping together pesos to support their [...]
by Nissa Hanna
WHAT’S HAPPENING
While self-gifting is all fine and good, it usually lacks one key element of gift giving: surprise. A new service, Surprise Gift For Me, is offering to be a personal wish list shopper so self-gifters can be pleasantly taken aback by their own presents.
Here’s how it works: The giver/receiver lists three to [...]
by Hans Eisenbeis
WHAT’S HAPPENING
Having a little cash on hand — literally — can make a person feel better. A September 2009 study by academic researchers in China and the U.S. found that handling money has a significant physical and emotional effect (CreditCards.com 10.1.09).
The study had a group of people count bills and then submerge their [...]
by Anna Otieno
WHAT’S HAPPENING
The recession hit minorities hard, as lenders preyed on black and Latino communities. Wells Fargo, the second largest mortgage lender in the U.S., is being slammed with a lawsuit accusing just that.
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan gathered evidence to slap Wells Fargo with their second discrimination suit in 2009. Earlier in the [...]
Derek Stubbs, Gregg Archibald and Hans Eisenbeis discuss signs of recovery, failing banks and striped toothpaste.
Download this week’s economic podcast here:
Sprains, Trains, and Automobiles: Bottoms Up Week 27
37 min., 1 sec.
by Hans Eisenbeis
WHAT’S HAPPENING
A new study by the Center for Responsible Lending finds that the payday loan industry is not nearly as good as advertised for unbanked and underbanked consumers (Consumerist.com 7.14.09).
Payday loans are targeted at lower income consumers who have no other access to credit. They receive a loan in advance of a paycheck, [...]
by Hans Eisenbeis
WHAT’S HAPPENING
While Americans are engaging in more hanky panky during the Great Recession, they seem to be doing it at home and on the cheap: The legal brothels of Nevada are suffering from the economic malaise (The Observer 6.28.09).
According to the Nevada Brothel Owners’ Association, many of the state’s bordellos have taken a [...]
by Charlotte Beal
Why beat around the bush? If we may say, Iconoculture has been hitting home runs in the trend department lately — getting out ahead of the curve on consumer culture before our clients knew what hit ‘em.
In the food world, everyone’s buzzing about “taco trucks 2.0″ — Kogi Korean tacos and their ilk. [...]
by Hans Eisenbeis
WHAT’S HAPPENING
How desperate are Americans for relief from escalating health insurance costs and disappearing benefits? They’re increasingly willing to let the federal government get involved. That’s according to a May 2009 poll by CNN and Opinion Research, which found that 63% of survey respondents “would favor an increase in the federal government’s influence [...]
by Lisa Parks
WHAT’S HAPPENING
Keeping rappers on a reasonable budget in this economy is like pulling teeth and that’s truer than ever for hip hop artists who are used to putting their money where their mouth is.
Rap stars and wannabes are ditching their gold and diamond encrusted teeth, called “grillz,” at websites like SellYourGoldTeeth.com. That’s right! [...]
