American Money

The first comprehensive look at how politicians let the entertainment industry bilk taxpayers, hijack public policy, and hurt economic investment, starting and ending with Trump.

What do Americans do with their money? Marketplace host David Brancaccio took a financial pilgrimage across the country to find out. Get Squandering Aimlessly plus a 1-Month, 6-Month, or 12-Month Subscription to Marketplace at a special discount.

Barry Becher and Ed Valenti set the stage for today’s infomercials with their now-famous television techniques. Their zany commercials - advertising such products as the Miracle Painter, Armourcote cookware, and, most famously, the Ginsu® knife - captured both the imagination and pocketbook of the American public. And they became millionaires in the process. But wait, there’s more! You’ll learn how to get a better price on anything you buy, how to get better service anywhere, even how to get easily get bumped from coach to first class on an airline. 

As a changing climate threatens the whole country with deeper droughts and more furious floods that put ever more people and property at risk, Texas has become a bellwether state for water debates. Will there be enough water for everyone? Is there the will to take the steps necessary to defend ourselves against the sea? Is it in the nature of Americans to adapt to nature in flux?

In The Fix Was On, Murray Rothbard discusses why the United States replaced specie with fiat currency; the early days of American banking after the Revolutionary War; early central banks and the ultimate creation of the Federal Reserve; and how the Federal Reserve causes the boom/bust business cycle.

Despite Brazil being part of the BRIC nations, those with the most potential for growth in the global economy, Brazil is considered economically backwards in many ways. You get an idea of this when you look deeper into its politics and economic policies. In this edition of Summary Shorts, we will analyze and summarize the ideas put forth in Brazillionaires, a book that truly exposes the dark side of Brazil's rise and arguably its inexorable fall.

The American dream is having a mid-life crisis! It doesn't matter if you are a high level executive or a high school dropout, in this day and age people are on the hunt for more meaningful work. People realize that time is short and want to do something special and unique with their working lives. A quest which has resulted in frustration for many; luckily, crowdfunding has swooped in to save the day. For those looking to make the most out of the crowdfunding wave, a better time has never been upon us.

Are we living the good life - and what defines good, anyway? Americans today are constructing a completely different framework for success than their parents' generation, using new metrics that TEDWomen speaker and columnist Courtney Martin has termed collectively the "New Better Off".

America has entered into a new era. The Great Recession of 2007-09 completely changed the way our society approaches employment, the economy is placing an increasing emphasis on knowledge and technology, and our world is more globalized and interconnected than ever. It is undeniable: The world has changed.

The American Dream is close to being replaced by a living nightmare. Key commodities that are essential to our daily lives and that are widely believed to be abundant are running critically short. Even worse, the Chinese are doing what they can to monopolize the world's dwindling resources. The U.S. is now largely dependent on our greatest economic rival for rare earth elements as well as a host of other minerals - all of which are absolutely essential to the development of alternative energies....

The greatest travesty of the 21st century is the impact of globalization, Petrolism, and monetized special-interest-driven politics. Rebuilding our American Dream should be the utmost priority for all Americans and those who serve us in this century. This is a blueprint for shifting todays paradigm from the perspective of economic development at the local level.

Taking the company into the 21st century was not going to be easy for Mr. Blue, Jr. His Chief of Staff, B.B. Queen, seemed to be getting with the program, while other sales executives were lagging behind. Faced with constant threats from those challenging his authority and the voice of Mr. Blue, Sr. echoing in his head, he and others find themselves involved in a series of games with plots and twists that keep them all on their toes, everyone vying for the prize. Who will advance? And who will be sent packing?

Who invented supply-side economics - the idea that cutting tax rates can result in more growth, more prosperity at all income levels, and even more tax revenue flowing into the IRS? Most people would credit the economic team that advised Ronald Reagan in the late 1970s and early 1980s. But in fact supply-side economics came of age two decades earlier. And the first president who embraced it was one of the biggest icons of the Democratic Party - John F. Kennedy.

Conceived in the early 1800s and completed in 1825, the Erie Canal was the boldest and biggest American engineering project of its century, with enduring political, social, and economic effects. It was the Erie Canal that first opened up the West to American enterprise and imagination, bringing vast riches and a far-reaching vision to a rapidly expanding nation.In this compelling narrative, author Gerard Koeppel tells the complete, sweeping story of the creation of the canal.

America's middle class, the driver of so much of our economic success and political stability, is rapidly disappearing, forcing us to confront the fear that we are slipping as a nation - that our children and grandchildren will enjoy fewer opportunities and face a lower standard of living than we did. It's the dark flipside of the American Dream - an American Nightmare of our own making.

Born in Italy, University of Chicago economist Luigi Zingales witnessed firsthand the consequences of high inflation and unemployment - paired with rampant nepotism and cronyism - on a country’s economy. This experience profoundly shaped his professional interests, and in 1988 he arrived in the United States, armed with a political passion and the belief that economists should not merely interpret the world, but should change it for the better.

Through his nightly CNN show Lou Dobbs Tonight, his syndicated radio program, and his monthly magazine column, Lou Dobbs has become one of America's most visible, popular, and respected voices on business and financial matters. Now, with War on the Middle Class, Dobbs takes an impassioned and rousing stance on the all-out class war that is turning the American dream into a nightmare.

America's leaders say the economy is strong and getting stronger. But the safety net that once protected us is fast unraveling. With retirement plans in growing jeopardy while health coverage erodes, more and more economic risk is shifting from government and business onto the fragile shoulders of the American family. In The Great Risk Shift, Jacob S. Hacker lays bare this unsettling new economic climate, showing how it has come about, what it is doing to our families, and how we can fight back.

In The Company Town, Hardy Green, who has covered American business for over a decade, offers a compelling analysis of the emergence of these communities and their role in shaping the American economy, beginning in the country's earliest years....

Are you tired of having too much month left at the end of your money? Do you feel like there's just never enough money to go around? Would having $100.00, $200.00 or $500.00 extra per month make a big difference in your life? Do you want to save money, but aren't sure where to start? If you can answer yes to any of these questions, Simple Savings: 274 Money Saving Tips That Will Help You Save $1,000 or More Every Month is the book for you.