household debt

As lawmakers start to shift their attention to job creation, a Brandeis University study finds that four in 10 families don’t have enough savings or assets on hand to pay for essential expenses during a period of unemployment. The report also notes that the poor economy is hitting minority households particularly hard, erasing their economic [...]

Has the economy scared you into cutting back on your spending, paying down your credit cards, getting your budget in order? Good for you, but bad for the country’s financial health, the Wall Street Journal points out today. Big-spending Americans have dramatically changed their habits, and economists expect the savings rate, which has dipped below [...]