credit

How Rapleaf Is Data-Mining Your Friend Lists to Predict Your Credit Risk

Lucas Conley — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 07:40:56 -0500

They say you can tell a lot about a person by the company they keep. Joel Jewitt is inclined to agree.

Kenya's M-PESA System Lets Cell Phones Control Access to Water

Ariel Schwartz — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 11:30:20 -0400

Water is like liquid gold in drought-stricken areas of Africa, so it's no surprise to learn water conflict and corruption is common. Safaricom's M-PESA system of cell phone cash transfer, originally released in 2007, could help quell the dissidence.

Don't worry about your Credit when you buy a Honda in Miami

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 11:09:06 -0400

For those of us with less-than-perfect credit in Miami, that is the question we dread when we come to a car dealership. Anyone who has looked into buying a car knows the drill- before this question is asked, it seems as if low payments and low finance rates are just a signature away, but for many of us, all that goes out the window once our credit is checked.

Clash of the Classes

Steve Curnutte — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 10:38:23 -0400

Take any sampling of say, 500 Americans. Ask each of them if the language of today’s political rhetoric and public discourse through the media is too inflammatory, too mean spirited. To the last one, they would say yes. They might even go so far as to say it is worse than it has ever been.

Lending Club and Virgin Money Team Up to Salve the Recession With Social Network Lending

Anya Kamenetz — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 11:42:55 -0500

Celebrity Calamity: A Game That Teaches Finance Through Stardom

Anya Kamenetz — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 14:46:35 -0500

Here's a new approach to teaching financial literacy: a video game in which you play the business manager of a free-spending celebrity, trying to satisfy her wish list while keeping her out of the red.

The Death of 'Cruel Arrogance'?

Steve Curnutte — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 09:20:33 -0500

Arrogance will never die of course, but hopefully the last few months have set it back a pinch.

The Case of the Puzzled Baboons

Steve Curnutte — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 15:13:39 -0500

America has collectively awakened to a crisis. Fear and a bunker mentality have choked consumer spending. It seems bad news makes people act even more conservatively, which makes things worse, which makes for more bad news. Most of what is written about this phenomenon seems to rest on intangible reasons like consumer sentiment or retail pullback. So we thought we could offer a concrete, albeit strange, example by looking to the world of primates.

A Wall to Push Off...

Steve Curnutte — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 00:26:47 -0500

To intervene or not to intervene. That is the raging debate on our satellites. That is the raging debate around our water coolers. ‘Let them fail!’ or “They are too big to fail.’ But it is far deeper and more subtle than that…

Capitalism....dot gov?

Steve Curnutte — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 19:15:44 -0500

There is a new drugstore test called the E.G.T. (Early Government Test). You pee on a stick. If the lines appear, you are no longer living in a free market.

The Yearning for a Malefactor (and other failures)

Steve Curnutte — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 23:29:33 -0500

The churning of the press in the last few weeks has at least been good for something. If there were any doubt before, none now should remain. Our national conversation about our economic woes is shockingly devoid of an original voice. Each new article about the state of our affairs seems little more than a recapitulation of someone else’s opinion; which itself is derivative of another’s opinion. At best, we might find a concise description of what has happened.

The Treasury, Mosquitoes, and Unintended Consequences

Steve Curnutte — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 16:41:58 -0400

Time for True Economic Innovation...

Steve Curnutte — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 23:08:00 -0400

With the speed of a thunderstorm and the force of a glacier, the massive deleveraging of global markets is reshaping the face of American finance. The venerable system of Wall Street investment banks was carved from the map in a matter of weeks. The unwinding is not over of course. But a way forward must be found.