economy

When the stock market tanks in a short period of time, technology spending often goes with it.

Simply put, there will be a round of downward revisions for technology spending in the next few weeks barring some miraculous rebound in the economy. Is it too early to call a soft patch for technology? Not really.

For starters, technology spending often tracks gross domestic product and economists are already scurrying to cut their second-half forecasts. Meanwhile, other reports indicate that inventory levels in the tech supply chain are creeping higher. And the final reason why tech spending can be expected to take its lumps: psychology.

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A new Web game has finally brought every American taxpayer's fantasy to life. Budget Hero 2.0, a timely update to an earlier title, gives players the chance to choose where their tax dollars are spent while simultaneously working to save our ailing economy.

It's somewhat ironic that the game was created at least in part with the help of federal tax dollars by American Public Media, which produces public-radio shows including "Marketplace" and "Prairie Home Companion."

Budget Hero uses data from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, which keeps track of the budget and makes predictions about the impact of all sorts of proposed policies. This allows the game to get pretty wonky very quickly, with options to "extend the Bush tax cuts" and link that amount to inflation right off the bat. It's almost as confusing as calculating hit points, for all you old-school D&Ders out there.… Read more

Raising federal fuel economy standards to as high as 56 mpg in the 2025 model year would yield fuel savings to consumers that more than offset higher vehicle prices, a new study found.

But lifting corporate average fuel economy to 62 mpg would result in vehicle price increases that exceed fuel savings over a five-year period, according to the nonprofit Center for Automotive Research.

The report highlights room for compromise on the Obama administration's preliminary proposal to raise CAFE to between 47 mpg and 62 mpg from the 2017 to 2025 model years.

Environmental groups have pushed for 62 … Read more

Streamline Your Debt is a free tool that analyzes your home mortgage and shows you ways to reduce your payments or pay your loan off more quickly by using a Home Equity Line of Credit. While it's not the most intuitive tool we've used, its summaries offer useful data that can help guide your decisions.

We extracted the compressed download and clicked the executable file. Streamline Your Debt's simple interface opened with a tabbed Startup Wizard that let us enter home, HELOC, and income and expense data. We entered data for House Value, Loan Value, Interest Rate, … Read more

Consumers should have an easier time comparing the fuel economy of cars and light trucks once new consumer labels unveiled today go into effect.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson unveiled the new set of labels this morning at a live press conference hosted on the Web.

Prior to this, car labels hadn't been updated for 30 years.

Each new label differs slightly depending on the car's drive train or fuel source. (Click for a PDF of all labels.) Labels in the set include those for gas, flex-fuel gas-ethanol blends, … Read more

Many of you come to Car Tech looking for high-tech cars with Bluetooth connectivity, GPS navigation, and high-tech infotainment systems with audiophile-quality stereo systems. Some of you are just looking for the most fuel-efficient vehicle possible. For the latter group, we've rounded up 10 of the most fuel-efficient vehicles on the road today. What's most interesting is that, particularly with the hybrids, the most fuel-efficient vehicles are often also among the most high tech.

To keep things simple, we've set a few rules for this throwdown. First, we're separating hybrids and conventional vehicles into separate categories--otherwise, … Read more

The 404 Podcast has a symbiotic relationship with "Aunt" Jill Schlesinger aka The Financial Decoder for CBS Moneywatch: she helps our listeners create a foundation for their financial future, and we answer her tech questions about her Twitter account and yesterday's Apple iPad 2 announcement.

And sometimes she brings us cookies...giant, half-pound cookies from Levain Bakery!

You'll have to hold your breath for the iPad 2 discussion, though, because first we want to tell you guys about Jill's new podcast on the radio, appropriately called Jill On Money!

Episode 1 is already posted on the Moneywatch.com Web site; it's an hour-and-a-half broadcast where Jill answers plenty of questions about paying off mortgages, rising gas prices, and tips on how to maintain a good credit score. Plus, a little Cheryl Dunn in the morning ain't hurting anyone.

If you have a financial question for Jill, make sure you give her a call at 855-411-JILL (855-411-5455) and she'll schedule time to ask it live on the show, or you can also send her an e-mail at askjill(at)moneywatch.com or tweet her.

With Jill getting more involved in the tech side of broadcasting, she asks us for advice on whether she should buy the new Apple iPad 2. The way we see it, her buying decision depends on what she'll ultimately do with the tablet.

Since she already has a MacBook, she can either dish out $350 on a refurbished iPad 1 or spend $150 more for the 16GB iPad 2. Tune in to hear our advice, and as usual, we don't all agree on one path to take.… Read more

Rapid recent solar and wind price falls are likely to bring new markets and mass adoption a step closer over the next decade and raise the prospects of mergers.

The financial crisis coupled with a ramp-up in China, which now leads the world wind and solar manufacturing, have led to over-capacity and pressured prices in the past three years.

Natural gas is the main fossil fuel rival and still wins on price after U.S. shale gas finds created a global glut.

But wind and solar are now competitive in niche markets after prices of turbines fell by a fifth … Read more

The 404 is back with our first show featuring all three of us back in our home studio, and it feels great! CBS MoneyWatch's Financial Decoder Jill Schlesinger, aka #AuntJill, makes her 2011 debut and answers a few listener questions about the uphill economic battle in 2011 and planning for your retirement.

We haven't had a chance to talk to Wilson about his month away in China, so he tells us how he got hit by a bus in Guangdong, and would you believe it? His iPhone was not to blame! Sounds like the Asian driver stereotype might actually be true when it comes to Chinese bus drivers.

Speaking of stereotypes, Amy Chua from the Wall Street Journal sparked some controversy for an incendiary article entitled Why Chinese Mothers are Superior so Jill posted her response that examines the surge of wealthy women in China and the effect that strong parenting can have on a country's economy. We all agree with Chua when she says that "nothing is fun until you're good at it." Sage advice!

Finally, Jill answers questions from listeners wondering about reporting taxes without a Social Security number, the best way to save for retirement, how to refinance or purchase a home, and what kind of economic growth we can expect in the new year!