Money & Politics

Every month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics releases a report that looks at the unemployment rate, among other job-related data in the country. But who counts as "unemployed" can be tricky.

By Dave Roos

Who takes the hit when the U.S. president levies tariffs on our trading partners?

By Patrick J. Kiger

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is built on an alliance between 29 North American and European countries. But it's much more than that.

By Marshall Brain & Sarah Gleim

Many Midwestern and New England states are hoping to attract more residents by offering cash, student loan forgiveness and other incentives. But surprisingly, no one has studied whether these programs are effective.

By Dave Roos

Diamonds weren't even very popular before the 1930s. And it wasn't until a savvy copywriter created an ad slogan that the stones became synonymous with love.

By Diana Brown

President Donald Trump wants countries exporting steel and aluminum to the U.S. to pay steep tariffs. Could these tariffs spark a global trade war?

By John Donovan

U.S. politicians talk a lot about trying to save coal mining jobs, while saying little about losses in significantly larger sectors like retail. Why the disconnect?

By Patrick J. Kiger

Post-Brexit, applications for Estonia's e-Residency program are soaring. But what does becoming an Estonian e-Resident actually allow you to do?

By Tracy Staedter

Poverty has always been measured with money in the U.S., but a new study finds that when we focus only income, there's a lot we don't see.

By Jesslyn Shields

Financial difficulty can produce measurable negative impacts on physical well-being, including real pain and a lowered pain tolerance.

By Jesslyn Shields

Let's shed some light on how and why political donations can be so tricky.

By Oisin Curran

The New Year may produce more than a hangover; America may be going over a fiscal cliff as well. How did the U.S. get there, and what can stop it?

By Dave Roos

Gas prices are notoriously volatile. Does the president have any control over how much you pay at the pump?

By Dave Roos

It's hard to quantify the economic impact of the events of Sept. 11, 2001 -- and pretty much impossible to tally the emotional cost of that fateful day. How did the events of 9/11 affect the U.S. economically?

By Ed Grabianowski

The gold, tin, tantalum and tungsten inside your gadgets are necessary to make them work. But if these elements come from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, they may have been mined with forced labor.

By Jonathan Strickland

On April 13, 2011, President Barack Obama proposed a plan for reducing the United State's debt and strengthen its fiscal reputation. But what does it really take to save sums of money so large they hardly seem real?

By Chanel Lee

We often hear about high-end contract negotiations in the entertainment world, but it's easy to forget that these rich guys are still laborers working under the auspices of a union. But how does the regular working stiff handle these negotiations?

By Dave Roos

Diamond mining has long been associated with war, death and greed. The Kimberley Process made it possible to regulate the diamond market, but is it on the brink of collapse?

By Dave Roos

The U.S. president rakes in a salary of $400,000 and lives in a 132-room mansion. With a full-time pastry chef and a private cinema at his disposal, the leader of the free world wants for nothing. But which perks are the priciest?

By Jane McGrath & Jacob Clifton

It's a pretty simple idea: Whatever revenue wealthy citizens generate will eventually trickle down to the lower classes. But it's tough to find the logic in the theory of trickle-down economics when mainstream America is going hungry and the upper cr

By Jane McGrath

Want to get a debate going? Ask a group of politicians if trickle-down economics really works. For a few centuries now, theorists have been postulating that giving society's top earners tax breaks will help the lower classes in the long run. Think it

By Jane McGrath

They range from factory workers to plumbers to professional athletes. Labor scabs -- sometimes under threat of bodily harm -- fill jobs when union workers go on strike.

By Dave Roos

There's no disputing the fact that $700 billion is a lot of money, but there's been plenty of argument over a proposed government bailout plan. Will this plan save the flailing U.S. economy?

By Josh Clark

Even with fundraising restrictions, in the 2008 United States presidential election it's estimated that candidates will spend more than $3 billion on advertising. Yet many people argue that campaign finance reform restricts free speech.

By Jane McGrath

Africa produces around 60 percent of the world's diamonds, but a few of those are mined illegally, with the profits going to fund terror and violence. How can it be stopped?

By Alia Hoyt