It is each generation's hope that the next will do better. But a new study claims that your financial status while growing up affects you for life — which explains why some people make impulsive purchases even when the economy is bad. » 7/09/13 3:40pm 7/09/13 3:40pm

Holiday origin stories are fun because of their Crazy Straw timelines. From a one-room school singing that Happy Birthday song that their teacher made up, through the twists and turns of history and economic recessions and cultural shifts, that finally ends at 50 Cent rapping about not giving a fuck if it's not your… » 5/11/13 5:00pm 5/11/13 5:00pm

Who is single-handedly fending off the Tea Party Huns from gutting the federal budget, standing up for needy families, and making House Speaker John Boehner look like one of the sad clown porcelain figurines your grandmother keeps in her home just to make unwanted visitors ill at ease? That would be the diminutive… » 3/21/13 2:20pm 3/21/13 2:20pm

It's almost Halloween! Time to spend all the money we earned in October to get half-naked and binge on shitty candy. Seems reasonable, I'm into it. And so is half the United States, apparently. According to the Washington Examiner, Americans spend over $8 billion (BILLION) dollars a year on Halloween crapola. That's… » 10/22/12 9:30am 10/22/12 9:30am

The first sentence in this recent Wall Street Journal piece sounds sad and irrational: » 9/25/12 4:15pm 9/25/12 4:15pm

This morning, an amendment proposed by Minnesota Representative Betty McCollum and one of her Republican colleagues, Jack Kingston of Georgia, passed through the House Appropriations Committee. The proposal aimed to cut $80 million from the federal government's budget by barring the Department of Defense from spending… » 5/17/12 5:45pm 5/17/12 5:45pm

Seems the "weak retail outlook" is all women's fault — because we're "pessimistic." » 3/16/11 7:15pm 3/16/11 7:15pm

• Rihanna had dinner with Topshop founder Philip Green and Simon Cowell. Because Green and Cowell run an entertainment company that produces television and fashion ventures, the tabloid seers are pretty sure that means Rihanna's getting a clothing line. [Daily Mail]
» 12/29/10 11:43am 12/29/10 11:43am

More women are buying Rolls-Royces, particularly the $300,000 Ghost. "Women love their Ghosts...But Rolls-Royce is a male brand. And women like that. It's a nice masculine car. It's a statement. It's all about powerplay." » 12/09/10 9:26am 12/09/10 9:26am

According to Dr. Mark J. Perry, an economist at the University of Michigan, Americans spent just 2.98% of their disposable income on clothing last year — the lowest ever in U.S. history. Is that good or bad? » 3/23/10 6:40pm 3/23/10 6:40pm

According to a survey, more women than men are cutting back on "optional expenses" like clothes, restaurant meals, and vacations. So are women better at managing money, or do we "have more optional expenses to begin with?" [USNWR] » 8/11/09 5:20pm 8/11/09 5:20pm

It seems some marathon shoppers are learning the difference between "want" and "need." Now that the credit crunch is wreaking havoc with our bank accounts, one-time necessities like new Jimmy Choos getting passed over for last year's model. Says the Wall Street Journal » 11/06/08 2:30pm 11/06/08 2:30pm's Christina Binkley, "After years of gluttonous…

Despite the fact that my mom does wealth management and my brother is a bond trader, I am one of those people who does not "get" money. I know the economy is in the crapper and I can pay my bills on time and I know a bargain when I see one, but money is really a mystery to me. There was a time in my life where I was… » 9/25/08 12:30pm 9/25/08 12:30pm

As it turns out, all those babes in bikinis you see at auto shows actually have a scientific purpose for being there! Science Daily reports that Stanford researchers exposed (heh) heterosexual men to erotic photos and found that immediately afterward, the men were consistently more likely to take bigger financial… » 4/03/08 5:00pm 4/03/08 5:00pm

You may think that if you had more money, you'd buy nicer stuff. But ladies with cash still love a bargain, according to the National Retail Federation. Women with a household income of over $100,000 admit to shopping at Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus, Saks and — surprise! — Target. According to a survey, 11% of them… » 1/16/08 6:30pm 1/16/08 6:30pm