A tuning fork is an acoustic resonator in the form of a two-pronged fork with the tines formed from a U-shaped bar of elastic metal (usually steel). It resonates at a specific constant pitch when set vibrating by striking it against a surface or with an object… Wikipedia

If what Richard Solomon is saying over at [...]

Would shifting attitudes surprise Reagan? (Getty Images)

Government spending, in general, isn’t popular with the average American, but a new poll indicates that support for specific cuts for most programs is lower now than in 1980.
Harris Interactive’s latest flashback poll looks at views about government spending now, compared with 1980. The main question asked, “In [...]

The rich make for great reading. Except, perhaps, during a recession.
Even as the global wealth-creation machine grinds to a halt, and rich become scorned and scarce, books highlighting the wealthy are stacking up fast.
It isn’t as bad as “Dow 36,000: The New Strategy for Profiting From the Coming Rise in the Stock Market,” the ill-fated [...]

Bernanke

Congress just put a $700 billion hot potato back on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s lap, and without the tool the Fed had sought to make its job easier: the ability to pay interest on bank reserves.
That could leave the Fed with little choice but to eventually lower interest rates again to keep the economy [...]

Senior citizens have been hit pretty hard in recent months, as those invested in stocks feel the sharpest pain in retirement accounts and those living on fixed incomes have dealt with spiraling inflation costs, but today it looks like they may have gotten a small break.
 
Social Security lovers will getting a bigger cost of living [...]

The American public’s mood is among the darkest in the past 40 years as voters remain pessimistic about their personal financial state and blame everyone within range for the financial crisis.
The latest Journal/NBC News poll shows voters’ economic worries boosting Sen. Barack Obama as he widens his lead over Sen. John McCain, 49% to 43%. [...]

When P. Diddy starts pinching pennies, you know we are in a recession.
On P. Diddy’s video blog on YouTube, the multimillionaire rapper-actor-fashion-designer-business-tycoon complains that gas prices are too high (he uses more colorful language, of course, but the point is the same).
He goes on in comic fashion to explain why rising fuel prices matter to [...]

The world of global sourcing is even flatter and growing smaller by the day thanks to the advent of online marketplaces.
Since the global economic downturn set in, people have been asking me about its impact on e-commerce and Alibaba.com. While it is true that some businesses have become wary and have held back from international [...]

A roundup of economic news from around the Web.
Employment Numbers: Barry Ritholtz on his Big Picture blog again takes issue with the way the government calculates the employment data, this time taking aim at bankruptcies and the birth/death model. “One would think that something titled Birth/Death might actually look at business deaths, aka bankruptcies, partnership [...]