Here's an idea. Forgive debt. Everybody's debt. It is a pretty old idea, actually. But now Iceland is thinking of giving it a try. And Planet Money went to Iceland to explore this key question: "What happens when you wipe debt clean?"...

Noah Smith has seen some finance experts encouraging millenials to stop stressing about the stock market and start investing. Smith does not argue that returns, over the long term, are not worth the investment. But he sees a better investment strategy...

American households continued to increase debt levels in the third quarter of 2014, according to the New York Fed . Household debt overall increased $78 billion during the quarter. Our collective household debt as a nation now stands at $11.71 trillion...

Another semester is getting started at universities across the country, and that means, among other things, countless parents and students losing sleep over the fortune they are spending on that illustrious degree. Researchers at the New York Fed are...

David Wessel--now with the Brookings Institution--is one of the best at explaining the way our economic system works. And he's good in any medium. Even animation. This is a good start-of-the-semester explainer on the federal debt (and a good reminder...

The airlines are looking at a potential supply problem. It isn't about fuel or equipment. They soon may not have enough pilots. At The Atlantic , John Scott Lewinski looks into how this problem--a problem that will affect any of us who travel regularly...

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was Charlie Rose 's guest last night. Geithner and Rose covered a lot of ground, but the Secretary spent a lot of time talking about Europe. He said that business and policy leaders around the globe are all feeling...

Lawrence Summers isn't officially an adviser to the White House at the moment, but that doesn't mean he is without advice for politicians in Washington. In an interview with Here and Now 's Jeremy Hobson , following the latest deal in Congress...

When Congress checks back in after the 4th of July holiday, we can expect more discussion, err arguments, over what to do about raising the US debt ceiling. Our friends at BackStory , the public radio history program based at the University of Virginia...

If the situation in Spain does not change soon, we may be looking at another EU bailout of a member nation. In this short video, Wharton management professor Mauro Guillen says that the government's pro-cyclical policies may even drive Spain to a...

At the Liberty Street Economics blog, New York Fed vice president Kenneth Garbade takes us into the Wayback machine so we can look at the nation's "first debt ceiling crisis." In 1951, debt began moving up closer and closer to the debt ceiling...

In his new book, Fault Lines: How Hidden Fractures Still Threaten the World Economy , University of Chicago economist Raghuram G. Rajan lays out the structural flaws in the US financial sector and government policy that put the nation in danger of economic...

In the keynote address at Davos 2011 , British Prime Minister David Cameron called on leaders in Europe to continue the hard work of adopting austerity measures and reining in debt. And he also called for new commitments to manufacturing. Here is an excerpt...

At Project Syndicate , Mohamed El-Erian reminds us that Ireland is again an interesting case study in economic policy. When the Celtic Tiger was de-clawed (well, worse, actually) during the global economic crisis, most Irish civilians suffered, while...

The epicenter for concern in Europe has shifted from Greece to Italy, with interest rates on Italian bonds rising past 7% today. The rise comes despite the European Central Bank (ECB) buying up bonds over the last week in an effort to counter massive...

It was bad enough to be in economic turmoil, but Spain had the additional indignity to be included in a group of economies that we labeled either PIGS or PIIGS (depending on whether we included both Ireland and Italy). The PIIGS were EU nations that had...

Watching, listening, and reading the coverage of S&P's downgrading the US credit rating, it has become painfully obvious that many of our distinguished journalists have never taken the time to figure out exactly what ratings agencies are and what...

Paul Krugman is tired of reports on the financial mess of Greece and other European nations that only cover the problems of debt and fiscal discipline. He thinks, as he writes in his New York Times column, that we should use this opportunity to look more...

Few economists truly argued that austerity was a cure-all for Europe's debt woes (though we forgive anyone who interpreted news reports as suggesting just that), it was expected to be the answer for a lot of the problems in the region, and, to a certain...

Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson blame Europe's leaders--or "policy elite"--for worsening the economic crisis and "betraying all of the lofty promises of unity and prosperity issued when the euro was created." What should Euro...

Too much debt can cripple a person, or a company. That seems an obvious statement, especially two-three years into a global economic crisis. But taking on debt has many advantages, so it is always helpful to have some basic reminders. Cleveland Fed researchers...

There is no shortage of predictions for what going off the so-called "fiscal cliff" will wreak here in the U.S., but what about the impact on other economies? On the Wall Street Journal 's Asia Today , Eastspring Investment 's Nicholas...

The latest Economic Outlook from the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) paints a largely positive picture for global economic conditions--but with a considerable warning. GDP is rising across the globe, and the OECD is raising...

It seems like we are being pressured to eat our turkey a little faster this year. With Black Friday starting on Thursday many places, it will be interesting to see how effective stores are at getting shoppers to jump from the table and into stores. But...

In an op-ed for the Financial Times , Nouriel Roubini calls S&P's decision to downgrade the US credit rating "misguided," and he worries that it is making an already dangerous economic situation worse. Between the US economy's inability...