' No matter how clearly details about status "are conveyed, people as egocentric social information processors tend to process, comprehend, and evaluate such news by relating the details to themselves" (Mussweiler 2004, p. 832).
Social comparison theory, the idea that human beings feel satisfied or dissatisfied with their lots in life based upon peer-group comparisons, states that accessibility tends to increase the perceived similarity of 'self' and 'other' (Mussweiler 2004, p. 832). In other words, few college students are likely to look at famous stars and try to emulate celebrity lifestyles. However, in a seemingly equal setting like college, where everyone is taking similar classes, is staying in dorms rather than in houses that demarcate parental financial status, and where social life is very fluid, everyone feels 'the same.' And if someone who is 'the same' as you is wearing Abercrombie & Fitch and has the latest technological accessory from Apple,…...

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References

Mussweiler, T., Ruter, K., & Epstude, K. (2004). The ups and downs of social comparison:

Mechanisms of assimilation and contrast. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87(6), 832-844.

Silver-Greenberg, Jessica. (2007). Majoring in credit-card debt: Aggressive on-campus marketing by lenders is coming under fire. BusinessWeek. Retrieved April 22, 2010.

 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20607411/

In summary, I feel that I have learned to use a credit card in a way that benefits me more than the merchant or the bank.
For other consumers increasing reliance on electronic payments may be a problem, especially for the newer and lesser understood debit cards. There appears to be certain classes of consumers that view a plastic card differently from actual cash or that purchase more because it's easier to do so. The rising credit card debt problem in the United States is already a frequently covered issue and debit cards may be the next item of discussion. Debit cards may make the consumer debt problem worse by extending electronic payment access to customers who don't qualify for credit cards. Unlike credit cards, debit cards require the cash to be available in an account, but it doesn't mean that this cash wasn't earmarked for other necessities. And, it…...

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Bibliography

Talcott, S. (2004, August 13). Cash loses currency. The Boston Globe. Retrieved February 10, 2005 from Web site:  http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2004/08/13/cash_loses_currency

redit Analysis Smehra
redit Analysis for Neal Harris

Neal Harris recently submitted his credit application for our consideration. Mr. Harris is 45 years old, married and has 2 children. He currently works at Franklin Industries where he has been employed as office manager for 2 years. Prior to that, he was in sales at Providencial Insurance for 3 years. Neal has resided at his current residence in Tennessee for 1 year.

His credit application has been filed in joint with his wife, Helen Harris, 43 years old. Helen has recently returned to the workforce from being a housewife. She is also employed by Franklin Industries where she has been marketing director for 4 months. Both individuals have a checking and savings account with AmSouth. The purpose of their loan is for a 2003 hevrolet Tahoe. Following is a review of the 5 's of redit for Mr. And Mrs. Harris and conclusion for…...

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Conclusion

After reviewing the joint credit application for Mr. And Mrs. Harris, I have drawn the conclusion that they should be granted the loan under the terms listed. These are for a loan of $24,000, repayable over 48 months at 4%, minimum monthly payment of $540. While Neal Harris has on record a Chapter 7 file in January, 2001, review of their assets and liabilities reveals that they are suitable candidates for this loan. They also demonstrate timely repayments to their current obligations which include a mortgage with Countrywide, an auto payment with Nissan, and 4 credit cards, one of which is currently at a 0 balance.

The couple is also within the 20% average for credit capacity- net income, and have also demonstrated that they will be able to take on the extra expenditure through this loan through their supplementary income listed. I recommend that AmSouth give Mr. And Mrs. Harris their requested loan under the conditions mentioned.

Therefore, its important that every individual takes step to maintain a good credit history.
How to build a good credit history

Once the importance of credit is understood, the next step is to take measures to build or maintain a good credit score and history. It is not rocket science to have a good credit history. Some amount of restraint and basic financial discipline is all that is required to get a clean credit history.

For starters, one should learn to live within his or her means. Impulse shopping should be avoided at any cost. A better way to buy products is to plan and save for them. This can get the buyer out of credit troubles because the real pinch of money will be realized only when the dues have to be paid. It is also equally important to have good financial planning and disciplined living. All bills have to be…...

The consumer can learn about the various ways credit reports may -- and may not -- be used by reading credible source data online or in print publications.
One of the ways consumers can empower themselves is to gain access to their own credit reports. Access to one's own credit report is easily obtained online, by paying a fee to one of the credit bureaus or consumer reporting agencies. Gaining access to one's personal data is a proactive step towards the protection of one's privacy. As the Privacy ights Clearinghouse (n.d.) puts it, "Ordering your credit report once a year and knowing your credit reporting rights are among the most important steps you can take to safeguard your privacy." Once a year is only a guideline; some individuals might need to order their credit reports often if they have been conducting numerous transactions. Some consumers rarely use credit cards, let…...

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References

Electronic Privacy Information Center (n.d.). The Fair Crediting Report Act. Retrieved online:  http://epic.org/privacy/fcra/ 

"Fact Sheet 6: How Private is My Credit Report?" (2011). Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. Retrieved online:  https://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs6-crdt.htm 

Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia (2011). Your credit report: What it says about you. Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Retrieved online: http://www.frbsf.org/publications/consumer/creditreport.html

Obringer, L.A. (n.d.). How credit reports work. Money. Retrieved online:  http://money.howstuffworks.com/personal-finance/debt-management/credit-report.htm

Belonging to Alliant Credit Union Mean to Me?
I am on track to graduate from a Nuclear Medicine program in September of 2015. his is an important step for me because the nuclear medicine program holds out great hope for more efficient strategies for diagnosing and treating disease -- and healing people who are suffering.

After graduation I will pursue a career at Kaiser Permanente. I will pay off my credit card debt and begin a savings and retirement program at Alliant Credit Union, to assure my own financial security but also to ensure that my parents have the resources to be comfortable and happy in their retirement years.

Going back to 2009, when I bought my first automobile -- which is a huge step for a young person in terms of the need for independence, for transportation and the need to learn how to manage one's finances -- I have been…...

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That is the way I plan my life and my career -- with constant research and stewardship, investing in my own knowledge bank -- and Alliant Credit Union has been on my side all along, which I greatly appreciate as I move forward in my career..

Moreover, I have never thought of the Alliant Credit Union as a bank at all; banks can be sterile, unfriendly places where a person doesn't really feel at home. But the staff at Alliant Credit Union has always been helpful and gracious to me throughout the years I have been a member.

Since I opened my first accounts on August 8, 2006 (checking, savings, and a credit card) the helpful, informed employees at the credit union recognize and acknowledge me when I come in, which makes me feel like a family member instead of simply a customer.

292).
The Depression of 1893

Following hard on the heels of the depression that had taken place just two decades previously, the precise causes for this economic downturn remain unclear. In this regard, Steeples and Whitten (1998) advise, "There is no adequate account of the causes of the depression of 1893 -- 1897 or, by implication, of the crisis itself" (p. 6). These authors, though, cite fundamental shifts in demographics in the U.S., as well as innovations in technology and manufacturing that caused a reevaluation of traditional institutions and the role that the U.S. was going to play in the economic affairs of the world in the 20th century as contributing to this depression (Steeples & Whitten, 1998).

The "Great Depression" of 1929-1939

The stock market crash in 1929 is frequently cited as the precipitating factor for the Great Depression, but othermund (1996) emphasizes that there were other economic forces at play that…...

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References

Black's law dictionary. (1991). St. Paul, MN: West Publishing Co.

Connolly, B. (2008, Winter). Defining the financial safety net: Two dozen experts weigh in. the

International Economy, 22(1), 24-25.

Dattel, E. (2008, Winter). Defining the financial safety net: Two dozen experts weigh in. the

Closing the loan is also known as firm commitment, and involves the completion of all key paperwork within a designated time. A closing date is set, and the closing costs are established. hen the client pays the costs and completes the paperwork, the loan is closed.
The next step is to service the loan. Servicing refers to the management of the payments. The loan creates an obligation on the part of the borrower to make payments as specified in the agreement. The role of the bank is to ensure that those payments are received. Servicing may be contracted out to a secondary party. In the U.S. that might be Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, who provide a secondary market for mortgages. In a servicing arrangement, the bank would collect the payments and remit most of this money to the secondary market investor. The bank would keep a portion of the…...

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Works Cited:

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation website. Retrieved April 30, 2009 from  http://www.fdic.gov/regulations/laws/rules/6500-1400.html 

Rajan, Raghuram G. (no date). Why Bank Credit Policies Fluctuate: A Theory and Some Evidence. University of Chicago. Retrieved April 30, 2009 from  http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/raghuram.rajan/research/fluct.pdf 

Penwell, Tracy L. (2009). The Credit Process: A Guide for Small Business Owners. Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Retrieved April 30, 2009 from  http://www.newyorkfed.org/education/addpub/credit.html 

No author. (2009). Closing. Mortgage X. Retrieved April 30, 2009 from  http://mortgage-x.com/library/closing.htm

Iceland's Economic Crisis
Web

Iceland's bankruptcy

The purpose of banking in Iceland: speculation and hedging

The central issue: too much too soon

Iceland's Transition

eplicating Wall Street

Taking on foreign "assets" at a ratio to GDP of 10:1

Is debt an asset?

Easy credit and the role of the Housing Financing Fund

Low interest rates

f. Inflation

g. The end of short-term financing in the wake of Lehman's collapse

h. The bubble bursts

The plight of the average citizen

j. Aliber's speech

k. Left holding the bag

The effects of financial deregulation

A prime opportunity for shorting

Iceland and Nationalization

Not Bailing out the Banks

Introduction: Statement of Purpose

The bankruptcy of Iceland in 2008 can be explained in one line from Michael Lewis's Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World. The line is stated by a representative of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) who is tasked with assessing whether Iceland should be bailed out with a loan. Iceland, historically populated with "rational human beings" was now at the mercy of the…...

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References

Aliber, R. (2011). Preludes to the Icelandic Financial Crisis. UK: Palgrave

Christiansen, L. (2011). Iceland: Geyser Crisis. Preludes to the Icelandic Financial

Crisis. UK: Palgrave: 89-106.

Danielsson, J. (2008). The first casualty of the crisis: Iceland. The First Global

My student loan payments of $609.07 are scheduled to begin May 1, 2009. I do not have the resources to make these payments and Chapter 7 Bankruptcy does not affect student loans.
Since I have been stretched beyond my financial capacity, I am now consistently behind in my mortgage payments and am not in a situation to rectify this problem. I am paid on the 15th and 30th of each month and because I am so overextended, I can only make my payment on the 30th of each month. Due to my now chronically late payments, I am now subject to $136.44 in late fees every month, which I can ill afford. I am facing eminent foreclosure if I am unable to change the terms of my mortgage.

I believe my circumstances make me an excellent candidate for the Hope for Homeowners Act. The Affordabilty vs. Value portion of this program…...

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REFERENCES

 http://fha-refinance-program.com/hope-for-homeowners.html 

   http://portal.hud.gov/portal/page?_pageid=73,7601299&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTALhttp://www.hud.gov/fha/home080730.cfm 

Carrabine, Lee and South 193)

Industrial/Infrastructural Decline

As has been said before, the UK no longer makes anything, builds anything or sells anything tangible. The decline in industrial production has resulted in an overall decline in employment of industrial workers, who have not been aided by a failing system to transition to other work.

Some would say that the changes occurring in the UK, at this time with the increased importance of service industry work and intelligence rather than physical labor employment is a natural byproduct of globalization and an evolutionary product of the next phase as a "developed" nation.

They evidence this by observing that all developed nations are leaning in this direction. Yet, the transition has not and will not be easy, whether it is normal or not, a point which remains to be proven.

Kocherlakota)

ith the education system in the UK in serious need of reform to reflect the changing needs of…...

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Works Cited

 

college campus across the country, students are greeted with the familiar sight of individuals seated at folding tables, with the purpose of marketing credit cards to them. These salespeople are most frequently seen during the beginning of the college semester and are usually young and attractive and smiling, barely older than the students themselves. Quite often, if a student fills out an application for the credit card, he or she may receive a small toy or a gigantic in exchange for his or her pains. hat could be more harmless? hat's wrong with having a credit card on hand, 'just in case?'
However, this familiar sight is one of the many reasons that college students are becoming more and more deeply ensnared in debt. These smiling individuals prey upon students when they are at their most vulnerable. Most of these students have just had to pay hundreds of dollars for…...

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Works Cited

Indentured Servitude Contract in 17th Century Virginia. Stratford Hall History Resource of Historical Documents. http://www.history.pdx.edu/hst201/headrts.htm

Encarta Encyclopedia. "Sharecropping."

The article that was written by Conley (2011) discusses the impact that collateralized debt obligations (CDO's) would have upon the subprime loans. These were created in 1987, by the Wall Street firm Drexel urnham. In this product, the investment bankers would take a number of different articles and combine them together as one investment. The various assets that were used included: junk bonds, mortgages and other high yielding investments from the debt. The idea with these different products is that the investment bank could offer customers a stated return on their investment. The way it worked is the brokerage firm would distribute each investor, the stated amount of returns that they would make off of the tranche (the CDO investment). This was derived using a complex mathematical formula that would divide the total amount of interest that was received, from the various high yielding products that were inside the CDO.…...

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Bibliography

Case Study, 2011, Investopedia. Available from: [14 February 2011]

Citi Merger a Mistake, 2008, Huffington Post. Available from: [14 February 2011].

Deregulation Redux, 2011, FCIC. Available from: {14 February 2011].

Derivatives, 2011, Financial Dictionary. Available from: [12 February 2011].

worry bout audience Analysis ord Count: 1000-1250 words (This word count refers ONLY essay . It include audience analysis orks Cited page. If essay falls short minimum word count, I automatically deduct riting Informative Essay (Corresponding chapter The Little Seagull Handbook: -7) General Information An informative essay organized primary functions: report a unfamiliar topic; analyze meaning, pattern connections; explain works; explore questions answers.
Informative essay: The impact of the economic crisis upon young people

Although the consensus amongst economists is that the United States has extricated itself from the worst of the recession of 2008, the impact of the economic crisis is still palpable amongst many demographics within the United States. Recent college graduates are amongst the hardest-hit. Given the sluggish labor market, many new college graduates are struggling for work, while the previous generation was able to find jobs with much greater ease. These workers are burdened by high levels…...

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Works Cited

Goudreau, Nicole. "The 10 worst college majors." Forbes. 11 Oct 2012. 25 Jan 2013.

 http://www.forbes.com/sites/jennagoudreau/2012/10/11/the-10-worst-college-majors/ 

"Help Wanted: Millions of Cloud-Skilled IT Workers Needed." Microsoft Press Release.

19 Dec 2012. 25 Jan 2013. http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/features/2012/dec12/12-19CloudWorkersWanted.aspx

But Morgenson suggests even more troublingly, that the fundamental assumption of affordability behind the new program is flawed: "in devising what it considers an affordable mortgage payment, the program doesn't account for all of a borrower's debts -- the first mortgage, second lien, credit card debt and automobile payments. Instead, it calculates affordability using only the borrower's first mortgage payment, insurance and property taxes" (Morgenson 2009).
The program may even hurt those borrowers with second liens: "These banks -- the very same companies the Treasury is urging to modify loans that they service -- have zero interest in writing down second liens they hold because it would mean further damage to their balance sheets. Say a troubled borrower has a first mortgage owned by a pension fund in a securitization trust and a second lien held by the bank that services the loans. The servicer is happy to modify the…...

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Works Cited

Morgenson, Gretchen. "Why Treasury needs a Plan B. For mortgages"

The New York Times. December 5, 2009. December 6, 2009.

 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/06/business/economy/06gret.html?_r=1&ref=business

....

There are several steps individuals can take to achieve financial independence in today's economy:

1. Create a budget and stick to it: This is the foundation of any financial plan. By tracking your income and expenses, you can identify areas where you can cut back and save more money.

2. Save and invest wisely: Make saving a priority by automatically transferring money into a savings or investment account each month. Consider investing in assets that provide long-term growth potential, such as stocks, bonds, or real estate.

3. Pay off high-interest debt: Focus on paying off high-interest debt, such as credit card debt, as....