Cowboy Economics News - October 2008 Archives

Households significantly reduce electricity use when prices rise (10/31/2008)

Energy use returns to previous levels when prices are lowered ...> Full Article

Flawed 401(k) laws putting retirement at risk, expert says (10/30/2008)

Congress needs to reform flawed 401(k) laws that could push back retirement for millions of Americans whose savings have collapsed along with the stock market ...> Full Article

Consumers and plastic surgeons say economy is cutting into cosmetic procedures (10/29/2008)

New medical data: Consumers look to minimally-invasive procedures ...> Full Article

Improved poverty analysis (10/29/2008)

Dutch researcher develops early warning system for food shortages ...> Full Article

Credit crunch threatens new medicines (10/28/2008)

The global financial crisis could seriously delay the discovery and production of many new life-saving medicines ...> Full Article

The great crash of 2008 (10/24/2008)

The outlook for the public finances is poor. ...> Full Article

Recent financial crisis fails to hurt confidence in Florida real estate (10/23/2008)

The national economic crisis has failed to rattle Florida real estate experts, who, despite serious concerns about the availability of financing, remain surprisingly calm about market conditions within the state, ...> Full Article

Immigrants close earning gap more slowly than previously thought (10/22/2008)

Immigrants whittle into a broad earnings gap with American-born workers only about half as fast as long-accepted estimates suggest ...> Full Article

Shultz urges cut in U.S. oil dependence (10/20/2008)

Moving ahead on energy requires understanding and innovation ...> Full Article

Did Pirates Create The Credit Crunch? (10/19/2008)

As the world's money markets do their best to combat the Credit Crunch, a politics lecturer has discovered that the root of modern democracy's money woes may lay with the first corporations -> pirates. ...> Full Article

10 years on, high-school social skills predict better earnings than test scores (10/18/2008)

Ten years after graduation, high-school students who had been rated as conscientious and cooperative by their teachers were earning more than classmates who had similar test scores but fewer social skills ...> Full Article

Entrepreneurial Activity Affected by Degree of States' Economic Freedom (10/17/2008)

A new study examines how entrepreneurial activity and level of employment in U.S. service industries respond to changes in the degree of economic freedom among states. Researchers found that the relationship between entrepreneurial outcomes and economic freedom varies significantly by industry. ...> Full Article

Another bailout? Government pension insurer could be next, expert says (10/16/2008)

Another multi-billion-dollar taxpayer bailout could lie ahead, this time to rescue a cash-strapped government program that insures pensions of 44 million American workers and retirees ...> Full Article

Greater Phoenix resale numbers continue foreclosure trend (10/15/2008)

In September, there were a total of 8,280 resale homes recorded sold. Foreclosure activity represented 44 percent ...> Full Article

Insider trading: Another glass ceiling? (10/14/2008)

Female executives who legally trade on inside information make nice, tidy profitsâ€"but not as much as men in the same positions ...> Full Article

Americans & the economy: Angry feelings, fear exceeds terrorism risk (10/13/2008)

n three days that began the current crisis, research team in Oregon tracked the pulse of a worried nation ...> Full Article

If only we get through the next few weeks (10/12/2008)

Expert panel analyzes financial crisis, debates cures ...> Full Article

'Credit Crunch' Will Hit Retirees in Unequal Ways (10/11/2008)

Pension plans safe for now but may suffer in the long term ...> Full Article

Flawed corporate watchdog methods helped fuel economic crisis (10/10/2008)

Archaic corporate governing systems that failed to ferret out risky business deals helped stoke the nation's deepest financial meltdown since the Great Depression ...> Full Article

Economist Downgrades Montana's Forecast Slightly (10/9/2008)

An economist has scaled back his forecast of the state's economic performance for 2008 and 2009 â€" from 4 percent annual growth to 3.3 percent. ...> Full Article

What Will the Financial Crisis Mean For 'Corporate Responsibility?' (10/8/2008)

During this historic economic downturn, society's perceptions of financial companies may be undergoing a change ...> Full Article

Research finds customers' fixation on minimum payments drives up credit card bills (10/7/2008)

New research reveals that many credit card customers become fixated on the level of minimum payments given on credit card bills. ...> Full Article

Study: Mortgage Losses On Owner-Occupied Homes Lower Than Assumed (10/6/2008)

Homeowners who are struggling with mortgages for their own residences are a relatively small part of the overall mortgage crisis, according to results of a new nationwide study of consumer balance sheets. ...> Full Article

Oil price could plummet (10/5/2008)

Washington's ongoing hand-wringing over a potential $700 billion bailout for the teetering financial sector could have serious ramifications north of the border, particularly in the energy sector ...> Full Article

Florida consumer confidence rises for third consecutive month, study finds (10/2/2008)

Consumer confidence among Floridians rose three points in September to 70, marking the third month of increases since the index hit its all-time low of 59 in June ...> Full Article

Economist says the time is nigh: Unsustainable financial boom turns to bust (10/1/2008)

Another economist has been predicting the emergence of serious financial problems for several year ...> Full Article