Another Great week of reading to share. Let’s start with Miranda Marquit’s article at Good Financial Cents, The Dangers of Using Credit Cards as an Emergency Fund. Miranda explains why you need a ‘real’ emergency fund to keep from getting caught in a debt spiral.
At Monervator, I learned a bit more about ETFs Vs index funds: The ultimate battle of the trackers. Some subtle differences really worth understanding.
Money Energy helps us understand The Difference Between Deflation and Disinflation. The economy is in some strange times right now, this article would help you understand some of the Fed-speak you may be hearing.
At Steadfast Finances, we’re invited to view an interview: Jon Stewart: the Financial Crisis Occurred Because of an Idiot Shortage. This is a video of Jon Stewart interviewing Bethany McLean & Joe Nocera authors of the book “All the Devils are Here: The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis”. A great interview. Now I want to read this book, glad to have this brought to my attention.
My friend Kevin at Out of Your Rut asked, Is the American Dream Dead now that Housing is in the Tank? Kevin puts these times in perspective and helps us clarify what was meant during the depression when people used the term “American Dream.”
Stew at Gather Little by Little asks Do you always give your kids what they want? Tough to say no to our kids, especially when then see there are things we can afford. But as Stew says,”too much of a good thing can be bad.” Interesting article to reflect on as we head into Thanksgiving week.
Joe
It’s rather simplistic to name CDS as the cause of the crisis. They were actually the mechanism that brought the crisis about. After all, if there had been no defaults, they would not trigger. So, why have there been defaults? Who enabled the situation that led to defaults? Ultimately, there’s only one answer: the Fed’s policies..