As we wrap up here at the EconomyBeat Podcast, I thought we could take a long view and look back the the last great depression, the one in the 20th century. Over the next five minutes or so, feel free to reflect and do a little comparing and contrasting for yourself.  Fewer than 1 in [...]

The blog ends, but the podcast continues! For a short while, anyway. Thanks Jon, for doing such an awesome job.
I love this (most likely, apocryphal) story: So, Henry Ford one day was taking Walter Reuther, the United Auto Workers president, on a tour of a newly automated Ford plant that had replaced many of the [...]

The one rule of performing improv comedy is “yes ,and…” When someone presents a comedic scenario, you don’t contradict the premise and start acting something else out, you build upon what last performer hands off to you, you effectively say “yes, and…” You continue the scene and forward the action and refine the characters. But [...]

Harry Markopolos, the man who tried futilely for 10 years to expose the largest Ponzi scheme in history, has written a book about his failed crusade called “No One Would Listen: A True Financial Thriller.” In it, Markopolos relives his tragic tale, how he discovered Bernard Madoff was a fraud, how he tried for years [...]

Tip o’ the hat to Laura at EconomyStory for sending us Sub-prime the Musical. The site consists of a series of podcasts by a college student named Madison Koshy, who created them from research she did on the causes of the credit crisis. Naturally, she then wrote song parodies to illustrate the concepts she had [...]

Some of you have no doubt seen the “Fear the Boom and Bust” video featuring the rap stylings of economists John Maynard Keynes and Friedrich von Hayek, two economists with diametrically opposed viewpoints. To put the dispute in its most simplistic terms, Keynes thought government intervention was the only way out of economic downturns, and Hayek…not so much. (Think Paul Krugman vs. Ron Paul to get a picture of two contemporary acolytes of these schools of thought.)

In Wikipedia’s entry on Keynes, the section “Economics: out of favour 1979–2007” is followed by Economics: the Keynesian resurgence of 2008–2009.

Others may be cutting back, but the EconomyBeat Podcast is growing! On this episode we have a full hour of economy stories from independent and station based producers compiled, curated and constructed by the fine folks at Michigan Radio. From a story about a family living on a beach, to a former GM employee [...]

In this episode of EconomyBeat, we have stories from people who have a very specific niche jobs, which is often a good game plan in tough times. Do something you love and something unique, and you’re probably better off than most of us. The person you will hear from in this story is KellyAnne, and [...]

Today on the podcast: be afraid! Fear turns out be a very good thing for certain businesses. When the Weather Service warns of a hurricane, there’s a run on plywood and water. A crime spree sends people to the gun store. And when North Korea or Iran starts making nuclear noise, the orders pour in [...]

In this episode of the EconomyBeat Podcast, I thought we’d take a break from the banker, broker, speculator type of con man who torpedoed the economy and focus on the much more charming street con man who provides such rich grist for our Hollywood movies.
In three-card monte, con artists use swift hand moves and constant [...]