Man doth not live by financial capital alone but also by human capital. And, of course, Warren Buffett had a lot to say about that, too, when he took Phil DeMuth and me to dinner a couple of weeks ago in bitterly cold, snowy Omaha.
As I write this from real estate disaster-ridden but still-glorious Los Angeles, I read much speculation that the recession is over.
Fortune: Death by mortgageupdated: Thu Sep 10 2009 11:26:00
"It takes two to make an accident.... I hate careless people." -- Jordan Baker, the shady golf pro in "The Great Gatsby"
What is the value of a child in modern Western industrial society? More specifically, what is the value of a middle-class or upper-middle-class or upper-class child in America? And does this have anything to do with the fact that the birth rate among American women has been falling for decades and that the age of first childbirth among educated women is far higher than among less-well-educated women?
CNN Political Editor Mark Preston talks to actor, author, economist and former White House speechwriter Ben Stein.
Ben Stein says he knows how Sen. John McCain can win in November: Karl Rove.
Economist and author Ben Stein speaks with CNN's Wolf Blitzer about the challenges faced by the U.S. economy.
It's safe to say, without even fact checking, that Ben Stein is the only New York Times weekly economics columnist who has won seven Emmys as the host of a TV game show ("Win Ben Stein's Money"). He's the only personal-finance author (latest book: "Yes, You Can Supercharge Your Portfolio!") who is stopped in public by ordinary people and praised for his movie acting (most memorably, as the comically boring teacher in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off").
It doesn't look to me as if there will be a recession - at least not a major recession - from the subprime problems or the credit crunch or any of that panic on Wall Street. But there are effects rippling all over the place right here and now, and some of them are not what you might expect (though some are).
IT'S NO LONGER POSSIBLE to win Ben Stein's money. But there is one thing we can gain from the actor-cum-economist: financial advice served up with a dose of humor. FORTUNE's Ellen Florian Kratz asked Stein to answer your questions about retirement, his homebuying addiction, and his dislike of Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson.
NEW CENSUS DATA show that the top 1% of U.S. earners now take home a greater share of national income than at any time since the height of the go-go 1920s. The top 300,000 earners together receive almost as much income as the bottom 150 million. Democrats inhale these facts and breathe out fire. Republicans say, "Hey, this is no time to be complacent. With a little effort we can push this closer to Louis XVI levels of inequality!"
It's no longer possible to win Ben Stein's money. But there is one thing we can gain from the actor-cum-economist: financial advice served up with a dose of humor. Fortune's Ellen Florian Kratz asked Stein to answer Fortune readers' questions about retirement and added some of her own regarding his homebuying addiction and his dislike of Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson.
Of all the nonsense that the boom has wrought, little has been crazier than the proliferation of adjustable-rate mortgages, or ARMs, often called exotic mortgages because so few people understand them.
Darn, I missed the Oscars again. I adore gory spectacles. If cockfights were legal I would be there. Even bear-baiting would not be too gruesome for me. Yet somehow I always miss Oscar night.
It's the rare film that charms both Kurt Cobain and Dan Quayle, but like Ferris Bueller himself -- who was popular with sportos, motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, wasteoids, dweebies, and d---heads alike -- director John Hughes' "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" appealed to just about everyone.
If you want to get scared, listen to Ben Stein, chairman of Retirement Planning Week, which kicks off Monday.
If it were up to John Kerry, every month this election year would be like February.
Money Magazine: Stein Wayupdated: Sat Nov 01 2003 00:01:00
In other made-up-holiday news, Ben Stein--writer, actor, Star Search judge--has been named chairman of National Retirement Planning Week, which kicks off on Nov. 17.
Actor and comedian Ben Stein is probably best known for roles like the insufferably boring teacher in Ferris Bueller's Day Off and, more recently, as the host of the Emmy Award-winning game show Wi...
Silly me for thinking fundamentals mattered. This past February, just as tech stocks were hovering above their October 2002 lows, I wrote that it still wasn't safe to buy back in. What could I poss...
When the economy stalls and times get tough, few disciplines are more critical for a company's survival than finance. When sales plummet or investment capital suddenly gets yanked, understanding ho...
Fortune: And Your First Job?updated: Mon Oct 01 2001 00:01:00
Shelly Lazarus, chairman and CEO, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide: "When I was 22, I was an intern at General Foods. It was during the Vietnam war, and the assistant and the associate product managers we...
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