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| Money | |
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| It's fairy dust, but because we believe in it, it works | |
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| What happened before there was money? | |
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| When did barter become popular? | |
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| Isn't barter an awkward way to trade? | |
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| How did traders get around that complication? | |
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| When did coins appear? | |
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| Who decides what money is? | |
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| When did paper money begin? | |
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| What did early Americans use for money? | |
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| How did we get to the dollar bill? | |
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| If it isn't backed by gold, what makes the dollar mighty? | |
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| When did checking accounts start? | |
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| Why did electronic money catch on? | |
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| Will paper money disappear? | |
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| Whatever happened to barter? | |
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| Booms & Busts | |
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| As smart as they are, the pros can't remove all the bone-rattling bumps | |
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| What do the experts mean when they say the economy is doing well or is doing poorly? | |
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| What makes up the GDP? | |
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| What makes the GDP grow? | |
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| When is the economy booming? | |
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| Why is overheating bad? | |
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| What's productivity? | |
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| How does an overheated economy cool down? | |
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| Is that what causes a recession? | |
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| What is deflation? | |
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| How do you end a recession? | |
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| How long can a bust last? | |
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| Taxing & Spending | |
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| Policy makers often argue over which is a better steering wheel | |
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| What is fiscal policy? | |
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| Who controls tax policy? | |
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| Where do taxes come from? | |
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| How come the rich get away without paying taxes? | |
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| What's a flat tax? | |
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| What's a consumption tax? | |
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| Who decides how to spend money? | |
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| How can government spending increase GDP and employment? | |
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| Does it work? | |
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| Can government cut taxes to speed up the economy? | |
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| Can government increase taxes to slow down the economy? | |
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| What's the bottom line? Are government spending and taxing good ways to fix a troubled economy? | |
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| Getting Into Debt | |
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| It's been around from the beginning, but the cause has become more worrisome | |
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| What's the difference between deficit and debt? | |
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| How can the U.S. spend more money than it takes in? | |
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| Should the government ever borrow? | |
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| When is borrowing wrong? | |
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| How much debt is too much? | |
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| How long can the U.S. get away with this? | |
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| Do we need a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution? | |
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| So how do we get out of this mess? | |
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| What are entitlements? | |
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| So will Social Security be eliminated? | |
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| The Fed | |
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| This very powerful institution performs a kind of magic | |
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| If the Federal Reserve can't prevent banking failures, who needs it? | |
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| So what does the Fed do? | |
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| What's monetary policy? | |
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| Why not just make as much money available as people want? | |
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| How does the Fed set monetary policy? | |
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| How does the Fed increase and decrease the amount of money available in the economy? | |
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| Where does the Fed get the money to buy bonds? | |
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| So the Fed doesn't print money? | |
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| How does the Fed destroy money? | |
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| But where does it go? | |
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| How does the Fed's buying bonds on Wall Street increase the amount of money in the pockets of ordinary consumers and businesses? | |
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| Does the Fed's selling government bonds on Wall Street decrease the amount of money in the pockets of ordinary consumers and businesses? | |
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| How does the Fed influence interest rates? | |
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| What's the Fed funds rate? | |
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| Does the Fed have any control over rates on longer loans, such as car loans and mortgages? | |
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| High-Flying Finance | |
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| The Wall Street elite can make the planet tremble | |
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| Who were the first financiers? | |
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| How did Wall Street and big-time finance get started? | |
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| How do big companies finance themselves today? | |
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| How do new high-tech companies get financed? | |
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| What caused the financial crisis of 2007-2009? | |
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| What is leverage? | |
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| How do you "short" a stock? | |
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| What are hedge funds? | |
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| What are private equity funds? | |
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| What are derivatives? | |
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| Why do derivatives have a bad name? | |
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| What's a speculative bubble? | |
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| Globalization | |
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| Nowhere to hide: Everywhere is connected to everywhere else | |
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| What is globalization? | |
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| Can Americans own and operate companies overseas? | |
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| What are financial and capital flows? | |
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| Is globalization good or bad? | |
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| How does trade affect inflation? | |
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| What is the balance of trade? | |
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| Must a country be in balance with every trading partner? | |
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| What happens when a country runs a trade deficit? | |
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| What is the balance of payments? | |
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| Is it bad for a country when its currency is cheap? | |
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| Do countries manipulate currencies to keep them cheap? | |
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| What does the World Trade Organization do? | |
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| What's the World Bank? | |
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| What's the International Monetary Fund? | |
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| What is the G-20? | |
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| What is the World Economic Forum? | |
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| Ripples and Waves | |
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| What happens next? How to anticipate the possible consequences of economic events | |
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| Key Words and Phrases | |
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| A glossary to help you understand a complex economic world | |
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| Index page | |