Credit or Debit?

Ann Medina
Jamie Luong

Within our society today, there are many ways to make a payment. Purchases are made during every moment of the day and many have opted for an alternative solution to paying for goods and services other than cash, such as with credit and debit cards. Both have many meanings within our society, and have different positive and negative connotations that are based on the influences of age and class. The existence of debit and credit cards has made a definite impact within our society economically, socially, and politically. These cards are often a substitute for cash. They have quickly become widespread all around the world. Click here to learn more about people’s everyday experiences of and ideas about the differences between credit cards and debit cards.

Sting Operations: The Dirty Side of Your Dollar

Nick Rockoff
Erica Christensen
Chris Gutierrez
Kalpan Patel
Brett Kohout
Emre Gurol

As a man dressed in all black approaches the target, officer Hoyt whispers into his microphone, “Everyone stay put until the transaction has been made.” The man quietly removes a couple of hundred dollar bills from his wallet, and offers them to an unsuspecting drug dealer. The drug dealer casually reaches into his pocket and reveals a plastic bag containing a white substance, offers it in exchange for the money, and walks away. Five seconds later, police sirens sound and the man is quickly subdued, handcuffed, and arrested. What this unlucky criminal was unaware of was that the man dressed in all black was, in fact an undercover officer, and that he had unknowingly been the target of a “sting operation.” For over 40 years, modern law enforcement agencies have been using sting operations to catch criminals in the act. During this span, agencies have devised hundreds of different ways to mimic real life situations in hopes of learning about and preventing different types of crime from occurring. Click here to learn about how law enforcement uses money to catch criminals, and how criminals use money to try to hide their tracks.

Barter: Let's Trade!

Dominic Adam
James Grant
Jon Heston
Connie Hsu
Brandon Nguyen
Alice San

Barter and Trade

Barter is better defined by what it does rather than what it is; it allows agents to create value. Not necessarily value from fiat, but value from negotiation, bargaining, comparison, turmoil, haggle, and stress; all forms of labor and personal interaction. However, barter has one requirement—a double coincidence of wants (Hayashi, 1994). And from this stance we can presume that the earliest encounters with trade and bartering occurred when people first created items and wanted other items. What better place to start an exploration of barter than with the ancients of 500 B.C. Click here to read the complete paper, including a barter experiment on Ring Road that turned a pile of junk into $248 worth of goods and services.

Roads and Highways will go Private, thanks to Iraq War

from Wired Magazine [and Tanya!] Full article here.

At the outset of the Iraq war, the Bush administration estimated that it would cost roughly $50 to $60 billion to oust Saddam Hussein and set that nation on the road to democracy. Five years later, the price tag is $600 billion and counting. As the economy sours, it becomes clear that one overlooked casualty of this war will be America's creaking infrastructure.

Free markets may be the only way to save the nation's roads and highways. They might even be the best way to save them. The Department of Transportation, under this Administration, has made no secret of its desire to lease highways to private companies, to use tolls and congestion pricing, to auction off fast access to those willing to pay and to otherwise let free markets drive transportation. Under this view, breaking up the government monopoly on transportation could lead to innovation and more choices for the public. Let those who use a resource pay for it, without burdening everyone else with the costs. Let the pain of price ease gridlock. It will reduce both fuel consumption and emissions. Heck, it might even drive down your insurance premiums.

Designer credit cards compete for wallet share

Credit cards are turning arty. Card issuers are trying to catch the eyes of customers with innovative designs, as the entire industry is in a fierce battle for a bigger piece of the credit pie. Kookmin Card this week unveiled a card with its front covered with a leather-like pigment. The design upgrade will be applied to its KB Star Card product set to debut next week and it will have two types: ostrich and crocodile.

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2886836

Gold plummets as dollar inches higher

The precious metal loses some luster as signs of economic recovery draw investors to more risky investments.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Gold prices tumbled Wednesday, as the dollar regained strength, to sink nearly $100 below its record high set Monday - leaving some traders wondering if this is the beginning of the end for gold's impressive run.

COMEX gold for April delivery fell $59 to settle at $945.30 an ounce Wednesday. Gold had set an intraday record of $1033.90 Monday.

Gold began to slide shortly after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates Tuesday by 3/4 of a percentage point, instead of the full percentage point that some market participants had expected.

The dollar, which has hit a series of record lows, began to advance against the euro in response to the Fed's announcement. Normally, interest rate cuts depress the value of the dollar. However, since the cut was less aggressive than many expected, the greenback benefited.

"It looked like the sky would fall, which is why we got up to those record levels Monday," said Jon Nadler, senior analyst at Kitco Bullion Dealers in Montreal. "But when the dollar started a bit of a gain this morning, people pulled the trigger across the commodity board."

Gold is priced in dollars, making it an attractive investment for overseas buyers. But if the dollar begins to strengthen, investors from overseas markets are more likely to sell their gold.

Moreover, gold's reputation as a safe-haven investment, one that holds value in times of economic volatility, contributed to the metal's record-breaking run.

'A major shift in psychology'

Buying gold and other commodities like oil and wheat is seen by many as a way to hedge against inflation, which has also helped support the gold market recently.

As the dollar continues to post gains against the euro, some analysts think gold is heading south after growing nearly 40-fold since its trough of $253 in August 1999.

"If gold drops below $915, it will represent a major shift in psychology," said Nadler, who believes gold could fall to about $850 in the next week.

With lower mortgage resets, the upcoming elections - which tend to boost the dollar - and the coming seasonal lull for gold, Nadler sees gold slipping to around $650 to $750 in the summer.

"That represents a good equilibrium level for gold, as jewelers will be able to sell gold again," he said.

Still, some analysts think Wednesday's selloff is largely a hiccup - a temporary reaction by speculative buyers to changes in the economic climate, which can dramatically impact on the price of gold.

"When you are operating in a heavily overbought market, corrections like the one we're seeing today are very easy to have," said Nicoals Kavalis, a senior analyst at precious metals consultancy GFMS.

Kavalis notes that the recent run-up in gold prices has been supported by speculative buying. "It's not hard for that 'hot money' to move out of market [when conditions change]," he added.

Religion and money: Islamic finance

Asma Hanif18 Mar 2008

Islamic finance is on the rise in what in many parts of the world can be called an anti-Sharia age, and it has been proven compatible with Western financial systems and legislation. But challenges have still to be faced.
Although implementation of Sharia law often sparks deep controversy in today's world, it seems that finance is a subject where the "Islamization process" spreads at great speed, but with least objection.Islamic finance is estimated to manage nearly $500 billion. A recent report by Moody's, a New York-based company carrying out financial research, suggests that the amount has annually risen by 15% over the past three years and predicts an excellent prospective for the coming years.

link: http://religion.info/english/articles/article_371.shtml