Why Asia Owns America The Forgotten Benefits of the Gold StandardOne of the benefits of the gold standard, long forgotten, was that it acted to regulate imbalances in trade Under the gold standard, trade imbalances between countries were unsustainable because they would self correct over time Here is an example of how that worked: When a country would export more than it imported, it would accumulated more gold That is because it could take the surplus foreign currency received in ...

New Year Home Budgeting The pre-Christmas period is the peak time of the year for retail sales, and many department and other stores depend on a successful Christmas for their annual profits There is another side to that coin: the same period is also the peak time for consumer spending A surge in consumer spending often means a jump in borrowing to support that spending in the stores Even people who might normally be very careful with their finances, may feel ...