Our current "Great Recession" has hit the poor and middle class hard, but does this short-term downturn in prosperity characterize the last three decades? Bruce Meyer from the University of Chicago and James Sullivan from the University of Notre Dame take the long view and argue that things are not as bad as we think.

Students and families can finance higher education in three ways: grants, government-backed loans, or private loans. Contemporary research and debate typically focus on grants and federally supported loans. Meanwhile, despite its explosive growth, the private loan market remains minimally researched and poorly understood. This made sense a decade ago, when...

U.S. Treasury bonds are declining in value, as investors recognize the long-term debt implications of more deficit spending to pay for the just-passed health care reform.

Policymakers can increase American retirement security by restricting employers from offering company stock in tax-preferred 401(k) plans.

The surge in tax revenue is masking the effects of reckless federal spending.