Not only is this implying that correlation means causation, but they also have the null hypothesis wrong!  The null represents your status quo, which is that length of firsts names DO NOT matter in salary.  You can't go around setting the point you are trying to prove as the status quo...if you can do that then you can...more

Most of these items are not frugal, they are cheap, stubborn, or stupid.  There is a BIG difference between being frugal and being cheap.  Frugal people do not skip regular maintenance or proper insurance, cheap people do.  Also, frugal people tend not to have debt

"But you know who we don't know it from? The consumer. And the consumer is remarkable in this country. Whether it be homes or cars or shirts or sweaters, the consumer is spending beyond what would seem to be possible."   Is anyone going to point out that this means consumers are going back into debt?  We've ridden th...more

This could be the most rationally written article I've read regarding such hot topics of debate, and it is absolutely right.  The American people are being pitted against one another and that is distracting anyone from actually accomplishing anything.  The occupy Wall Street movement has caught people's attention, but ...more

If you want to blame something for the problem then blame industry for deserting the USA and moving to foreign lands and leaving our citizens without jobs.  Laura - you have a great point about the banks needing to stay in business, but the above statement is wrong as well.  "Industries that are deserting the US" are a...more

Just now noticed the earlier comments are from 9/5 or before...wow MSN, can't feature any new articles?

It is quite obvious that most people who read this are older seeing that every comment that says "my retirement was stolen from me" has 78 recommends and anything that even suggests that boo-hoomers take some of the blame gets voted down the toilet (if I'm correct, this post should get lots of thumbs down).  Bottom lin...more

Delmar - unfortunately that will never happen because the people who are current on their mortgages aren't considered "risky" - if people who are current refi into low rates, that's less profit.  The ugly truth is that the banks only want to modify delinquent loans so that they can hope to salvage some profit (or limit...more

If QE is the drug then like any junkie the stock market needs to hit rock bottom and get on the wagon if we can ever hope for it to come out clean.  We need to stop wasting what little money the government does have on useless programs like QE(1, 2 and now possibly 3 to prop up the stock market) and put it to good use ...more