Free Republic

We better hope that the U.S. economy holds together in 2020, because if there is any sort of major economic crisis much of the country is going to be broke almost immediately. Today, close to half of all Americans are living on the edge financially. For many, it is out of necessity, but for others it is a conscious choice. Way too many people out there see no need to build up a substantial financial cushion because they have a tremendous amount of faith in the system. They don’t think that things will ever get too bad in this country,...

Or would you feel pinched? If your roof sprung a leak or your dentist said you needed a crown, would you be able to write a check to cover such an emergency? Either might cost $2,000, but about half of Americans say they couldn’t come up with that much cash within 30 days. That’s according to a paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, using data from the 2009 TNS Global Economic Crisis survey aimed at showing the extent of financial weakness in the U.S. and other nations. The survey asked, “If you were to face a $2,000...

Nearly half of Americans say that they definitely or probably couldn’t come up with $2,000 in 30 days, according to new research, raising concerns about the financial fragility of many households. In a paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, Annamaria Lusardi of the George Washington School of Business, Daniel J. Schneider of Princeton University and Peter Tufano of Harvard Business School used data from the 2009 TNS Global Economic Crisis survey to document widespread financial weakness in the U.S. and other countries. The survey asked a simple question, “If you were to face a $2,000 unexpected expense...