Financial Planning, Retirement Plan, 401k, Investment Blog

Financial Planning, Retirement Plan, 401k, Investment Blog

Posts Tagged ‘economy’

Bartering Away the Recession

Posted February 5, 2009 by Bernz

As the daily economic news continues to paint a bleak picture of the health of American business, consumers seek out new ways to make the dollars stretch until the end of the month. A very old way of doing business is once again gaining popularity for its frugality and simplicity. Barter has been around ever since the beginning of commerce, only becoming more scarce as money took over as a means of trade. In the past several years, however, barter has become fashionable and organized barter networks have popped up all over the country.

Barter networks bring together those who have goods and services to trade and allow them to do so with pseudo-cash. These “barter dollars” accrue in members’ accounts and can be used to purchase other available items or services offered on the network. The bartering can be done face-to-face at barter meetings or, increasingly, on the internet.

Bartering helps the under-employed use their skills for compensation from customers who might not otherwise have the cash to spend. It then lets members purchase from any other member on the network with the “money” earned.

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Popularity: 29% [?]

Technorati Tags: barter, cash, economy, Frugality, personal finance, recession, Saving, taxes, unemployment

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Tags: barter, cash, economy, Frugality, personal finance, recession, Saving, taxes, unemployment
Posted in Frugality, Misc, Saving Money | 2 Comments »

Will Obama Save Our Economy?

Posted January 27, 2009 by Bernz

The campaigns are over, the inauguration parties all cleaned up. All that’s left is the seemingly impossible task of fixing the American economy. President Obama has been left with quite the mess. The US is in the midst of what may be the deepest recession in the past hundred years. Every day, major corporations are announcing thousands upon thousands of layoffs. National retailers are closing their doors by the dozens. Homeowners are succumbing to foreclosures across the nation.

In the midst of all the depressing and scary economic news, one word is being repeated again and again by the Obama administration: stimulus. According to this economic theory, if enough government grease (in the form of money) is pumped into the American economic motor, consumer confidence will be restored and people will spend freely again. When consumers are willing to spend money, jobs are created. When jobs are created, workers have more money to spend. The whole process levers the economy upwards. So the theory goes.

President Obama’s stimulus package involves many facets including lending money to major corporations on the brink of bankruptcy, creating jobs directly by fixing the crumbling infrastructure of the country, and giving money back to taxpayers to spend as they wish. This is a 180 degree turn away from the supply-side economics of the Reagan era.

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Popularity: 26% [?]

Technorati Tags: bail out, bailout, economy, michelle obama, mortgage rates, obama, obamanomics, unemployment

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Tags: bail out, bailout, economy, michelle obama, mortgage rates, obama, obamanomics, unemployment
Posted in Financial Goals, Misc | 2 Comments »