After reaching new highs in 2021, with the S&P 500 (SPY) returning almost 29% and the NASDAQ 100 (QQQ) returning about 27.5%, the market turned in 2022. The S&P 500 and NASDAQ 100 are down 13.2% and 25.8%, respectively, so far in 2022. Much of what has happened in 2022 is a reminder of the … Continue reading Investing Lessons From 2022
Category: financial policy
Financial inclusion
Amidst a growing societal discussion on racism, inequality, and social conflict, we need to focus on practical ways that we can address these issues. One of the challenges for disadvantaged people is that they lack access to the key tools for managing money and building wealth. Efforts aimed at increasing access to low-cost financial services … Continue reading Financial inclusion
Misleading statistics on college debt forgiveness
Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are promising massive cancellation of student debt. There is around $1.5 Trillion in outstanding educational debt and 1-in-8 Americans are currently paying off educational loans. These loan forgiveness plans are promoted in the name of fairness, broader opportunity for the middle class and working class, and reducing inequality. The costs … Continue reading Misleading statistics on college debt forgiveness
Is it useful to discuss the ‘average American’?
In discussions of all sorts of public policy, it is common to see references to the average American or the average household. It seems to me that the entire idea of the average American household may be fairly meaningless. About 33% of Americans have a college education. The average incomes of people with college degrees … Continue reading Is it useful to discuss the ‘average American’?