An interesting counterpoint to the David Ramsey “no credit” creed I linked to below:
The gold standard method for determining causality is a controlled experiment. Recently, two academics ran the only published field trial of which I am aware that randomly assigned credit card vs. cash purchase opportunities to people in a live commercial environment. Their conclusion: “Surprisingly, we find that credit cards do not increase spending.”
Will
Will writes from Washington, D.C. (well, Arlington, Virginia). You can reach him at willblogcorrespondence at gmail dot com.
Thanks to your generosity, we were able to upgrade our service plan. Hopefully this will help us address some of our performance issues.
Devcat is done with rearranging local software extensions. If anyone notices any problems, say so :^)
on Trump Term Two, Day One, Executive Orders"Is that a reason to stop being woke? Maybe be less woke?" "LOL. LMAO." on Open Mic for the week of 1/20/2025I do think that it has an actual meaning. So does "socialism". And screaming "fascism!" every fiftee…
on Trump Term Two, Day One, Executive OrdersAnd fascism took hold of the land because lo, the centerist declare the woke was worse
on Open Mic for the week of 1/20/2025Define it broadly enough and anything right-wing is “fascism”. So you don't think there's any actual…
on Trump Term Two, Day One, Executive OrdersMy reactions are as follows: 1. EO on Birthright citizenship- bad policy for reasons I went onto on… on Open Mic for the week of 1/20/2025Here's an immigration policy problem. The US and Israel have a fairly liberal visa setup. If you're…
on Trump Term Two, Day One, Executive OrdersYup. on Trump Term Two, Day One, Executive OrdersGood riddance. on Trump Term Two, Day One, Executive OrdersThe head of the FCC has an interesting thread about DEI and how one of the executive orders was to "…
on Trump Term Two, Day One, Executive OrdersThe House and Senate won't impeach him over this or anything else.
January 20, 2025
January 19, 2025
As Long as the World Goes Round
January 19, 2025
January 17, 2025
on Trump Term Two, Day One, Executive Orders
on Trump Term Two, Day One, Executive Orders on Trump Term Two, Day One, Executive Orders
on Trump Term Two, Day One, Executive Orders
on Trump Term Two, Day One, Executive Orders on Trump Term Two, Day One, Executive Orders on Trump Term Two, Day One, Executive Orders on Open Mic for the week of 1/20/2025 on Trump Term Two, Day One, Executive Orders on Open Mic for the week of 1/20/2025 on Trump Term Two, Day One, Executive Orders on Open Mic for the week of 1/20/2025 on Open Mic for the week of 1/20/2025
on Trump Term Two, Day One, Executive Orders on Trump Term Two, Day One, Executive Orders
The credit card part I think take it or leave it. But his emphasis on debt reduction I find very helpful. Debt is not an asset. I don’t know how many people I’m met around my age who talk about their unpaid off house/condo as if it were an asset. Dude, if you’re still paying every month, it’s called a deficit.
The other thing (related to that point) that he hammers home is that minimum monthly payments setup are a fraud to squeeze more interest in the long run off a person. Though that might seem like a rather elementary economic fact to some, I think that actually is a light-bulb moment for many.Report
I would like to read Manzi’s post, but The American Scene has been pretty much completely down for the last 24 hours (503 Service Temporarily Unavailable). I’m not sure how you were even able to read the article. Matt Frost needs to feed the hamsters powering the site.Report
Yeah, it’s been on-and-off for a few weeks now. The actual post just links to that research paper, though.Report
I don’t know how many people I’m met around my age who talk about their unpaid off house/condo as if it were an asset.
To the extent its value exceeds the amount of the debt, it *is* an asset. Furthermore, it is a leveraged asset. You bear more risk, but you likely get a higher return over buying it outright.Report