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A Dollar’s Worth: Inflation Is Real
Understanding the reality of inflation can help consumers make decisions in personal finance. Learn more about inflation, how it’s measured, and how the inflation rate is calculated in the December 2021 issue of Page One Economics: Focus on Finance.
The Purpose and History of Federal Income Taxes
The individual income tax dates to the 1860s and now represents 48 percent of tax revenue. Discover its bumpy history and learn what 'public goods' are.
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Buy Now, Pay Later: A Credit Alternative
Learn how the alternative credit option known as “buy now, pay later” has evolved, how it is designed, and how this installment loan works.
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The Smart-Chip Credit Card: A Current Solution
The familiar magnetic stripe credit cards used for decades in the United States are being phased out. Read about the new smart-chip credit cards, designed to reduce fraud and improve security, in the March issue of Page One Economics: Focus on Finance.
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Smart Phones and Budget Changes
Everyone wants financial success, but how can it be achieved? A first step in attaining this goal is making a budget. This means creating a plan that ensures an effective way to balance income, spending, and saving during a given time. Because a budget is so valuable, it is specifically included in the National Standards in Personal Finance: "People can improve their economic well-being by making informed spending decisions, which entails collecting information, planning, and budgeting."
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Credit Cards: The Trillion-Dollar Debt
With record-level credit card debt in the headlines, this December 2023 issue of Focus on Finance addresses credit card history, statistics, and usage, as well as reasons for the increase in credit card debt. The information in the article can help in managing credit card accounts, and students will better understand the economics of using revolving credit as they prepare to become cardholders!
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From Coins to Big Bucks: The Evolution of General-Purpose Reloadable Prepaid Cards
Prepaid cards were invented to solve a problem: replacing coin usage in pay telephones. Since then, prepaid cards have evolved into a huge competitive market for general-purpose reloadable (GPR) prepaid cards. Read more about GPR prepaid cards in the inaugural edition of Page One Economics Focus on Finance.
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Your Social Security Number: The 9-Digit Evolution
Your unique 9-digit Social Security number follows you throughout your lifetime. How did this number’s importance evolve? Discover answers in the January 2020 issue of Page One Economics: Focus on Finance, which traces Social Security number usage from its beginning in 1935 to current times.
Who Pays Income Taxes, and How Much?
The IRS expects nearly 155 million individual returns will be filed this tax season. Learn about deductions, credits, progressive tax brackets and more.
Newsletter
Credit Bureaus: The Record Keepers
If you've taken a personal finance class, listened to the news on radio or television, read articles in the newspaper, or participated in social media, chances are you've seen or heard something about a credit bureau. In fact, the term "credit bureau" is so commonly mentioned that you may have not given much thought to the work and power of credit bureaus and how this affects you. Actually, there is much to learn about credit bureaus?and the records they keep.