Ben Bernanke

According to the Fed, sky-rocketing fuel costs and a shaky job market have not stopped Americans from spending. The April Commerce Report released in Washington today said U.S. consumers spent more than twice what economists had forecast, excluding car sales, Bloomberg reported.

A 0.2 percent overall drop in retail spending--led by the auto industry's 2.8 percent decline--in the first quarter of the year coupled with better-than-expected sales at discount chain Wal-Mart indicate that consumers are flocking to discount stores and holding out on purchases of big-ticket items.  read more »

For years and years a minority of savvy people would ask themselves, “Just how long can this go on?” The “this” was lending people money that they were not earning enough to repay. Now we know. Now the question is not how long can this go on but how come it went on so long.

Lending money to dubious risks is hardly something invented in the past 10 or 15 years. Until recently, however, the rule was that high risks paid high interest rates. The payday loan industry operates on that basis, as do the gangsters who lend to people gambling on sporting events.  read more »