Money & Economics
How rates, inflation, credit, and cycles actually work — and what they do to your money. Start with the Economic Cycles Explorer: twelve short lessons on why an economy moves in cycles rather than a straight line, plus compiled tables of every U.S. recession since 1929 and the Fed’s policy-rate cycles.
Nominal vs Real Return: Why Your 7% Isn’t 7%
Your statement number and what it can buy are different things. Real return, the exact Fisher formula (not…
Why Interest Rates Move Markets: A Beginner’s Guide to the Fed
When the Fed moves rates, stocks and bonds move too. The four channels — borrowing costs, bond prices,…
What Is Inflation, Really? A Plain-English Breakdown
Inflation isn’t just ‘things are expensive right now.’ What it really is, how CPI and PCE measure it,…
What Is APR vs APY? The Difference That Costs You Thousands
APR is what you pay to borrow; APY is what you earn to save — and APY includes…
The Yield Curve Inversion, Explained Without the Jargon
An inverted yield curve is the recession signal everyone quotes and few explain. What the curve is, why…
Stagflation 101: What It Is and Why Everyone’s Talking About It Again
Stagflation — high inflation with weak growth and rising unemployment — was supposed to be impossible. What it…
Short-Term vs Long-Term Debt Cycles: Why This Distinction Matters for Your Money
There are two debt cycles: a short one you live through often and a long one that comes…
Recession Indicators: Which Ones Actually Predict Downturns?
Which recession indicators work? The yield curve, the Sahm rule and the LEI — their real track records,…
The Economic Machine Explained: How Credit, Debt, and Cycles Actually Work
Most of what we call money is credit. Ray Dalio’s framework for how credit, debt and the two…
How Credit Scores Actually Work: A Data-Driven Breakdown
A credit score is a weighted formula, not a mystery: two factors decide about two-thirds of a FICO…