Become a Patron! One of my favorite concepts to tell people about is "affordable luxuries," the things that barely make a dent in your bank account but immediately spark joy: cheap candles, nice towels, or a new filter in your refrigerator. There are times when spending a lot of money will make you a lot happier, and there are times when spending just a buck or two will make … [Read more...] about Cheap lessons
Personal finance during the plague: the lean months
Become a Patron! A stylized fact about the course of the current pandemic is that while the economic impact was swift and severe, the effect on personal finances was muted by the rapid federal deployment of direct cash aid, in the form of "stimulus checks," expanded and extended unemployment insurance payments, and Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster … [Read more...] about Personal finance during the plague: the lean months
Education, advice, and evasion
Become a Patron! A few years ago I wrote about one of the curious fixations I observed among the wealthy denizens of the finance industry: the need for "personal finance" education. In this telling, the problems troubling American civilization are not the result of financial deregulation, or corporate consolidation, or employee misclassification, or wage theft, or race and … [Read more...] about Education, advice, and evasion
Affordable Luxuries #2: Filters and Routers
Become a Patron! After almost 6 months of working from home (i.e., bed) in a one-bedroom apartment, I'm about 95% of the way through a move to a preposterously decadent two-bedroom apartment, which means it's time for another entry in my occasional series, "Affordable Luxuries." Unfortunately, the two-bedroom apartment isn't the affordable luxury: housing in big cities is … [Read more...] about Affordable Luxuries #2: Filters and Routers
Three questions to ask as the unemployment insurance fight enters its (abbreviated) endgame
Become a Patron! Back in April I wrote an overview of the state of the federal pandemic response, and said (optimistically, I thought), of expanded unemployed insurance benefits that, "What happens next depends on both our progress against the virus and the state of the economy. If we’ve beaten back the virus sufficiently, Republicans may allow the federal top-up to lapse … [Read more...] about Three questions to ask as the unemployment insurance fight enters its (abbreviated) endgame