Financial Solutions

Christine Lagarde and the Demand for Dollars

July 2nd, 2011

Simon Johnson, the former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, is the co-author of “13 Bankers.”

After receiving support from the United States at the critical moment, Christine Lagarde was named Tuesday as the next managing director of the International Monetary Fund. In campaigning for the job, Ms. Lagarde, France’s finance minister, made various promises to emerging markets with regard to improving their relationships with the I.M.F. But such promises count for little.

The main impact of her appointment will be to encourage countries like South Korea, Brazil, India and Russia to back away from the I.M.F. and t

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Tags: Christine Lagarde, Lagarde

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Arkansas Trucking Association Will Support Repeal of Sale Tax Exemption

July 2nd, 2011

The Arkansas Trucking Association announced Friday that it supports both the renewal of the existing Interstate Highway Rehabilitation Bond Program and Gov. Mike Beebe’s call to have the state Legislature that exempts commercial trucks and semitrailers from the state sales tax.

During the legislative session earlier this year, the ATA had backed a plan to raise the state diesel tax by 5 cents per gallon along with a bill to exempt commercial trucks and semi-trailers from the state sales tax. The Legislature approved the sales tax exemption but referred to the voters the proposal to increase the diesel tax.

Surveys, however, indicate that voters would likely reject the tax increase.

“The sales tax exemption was based on the premise that it would be revenue neutral,” Lane Kidd, ATA president, said in an association news release.

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Tags: Arkansas Trucking, Arkansas Trucking Association, Support, Trucking Association

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3 Common Mistakes To Avoid When Planning Your Retirement

July 2nd, 2011

We have talked before on this site about the decision to pay off debt or save for retirement, and also have addressed things to consider when trying to make the most out of your retirement. However, before we can get too deep into thinking about these finer points, we must first be sure not to commit certain common retirement planning mistakes.

Over the last 6 or 7 years, there has been so much talk about the future of Social Security.

The ratio of working Americans to those fully retired is continuing to decline.

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Tags: Retirement

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Why College Brings a Huge Return

July 1st, 2011

My column in the Sunday Review section makes the case for going to college and cites two just-released reports, one by two Georgetown University researchers and the other by two Hamilton Project researchers. Each report has some charts worth reproducing.

The opening chart in the Georgetown paper, by Anthony Carnevale and Stephen Rose, estimates the demand for and the supply of four-year college graduates, both past and future.

The supply of graduates is easy enough to measure; it is simply the number of graduates. To estimate demand, the two economists look at the wage premium for graduates. When the premium is rising, demand is outstripping supply. When the premium is falling, demand is rising more slowly than supply.

Looking ahead, Mr. Carnevale and Mr.

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Tags: College, College Brings

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