Tag: Financial Literacy

Santa Fe New Mexican: Let’s reimagine financial literacy education

Post author By Lucas J. Parker
Post date December 25, 2025
1 Comment on Santa Fe New Mexican: Let’s reimagine financial literacy education

We need to modernize how financial literacy is taught entirely.

Tags APR Education, Compounding Interest, Consumer Finance, credit access, Credit Card Debt, Credit Scores, Debt Management, Economic Education, Economic Opportunity, Education Policy, Education Reform, Financial Curriculum Modernization, Financial Decision Making, Financial Empowerment, Financial Literacy, Financial Literacy Legislation, Financial Literacy Reform, Financial Responsibility, Financial Wellbeing, Gen Z Debt, HB 171, High School Financial Literacy, Household Debt, Interest Rates, Mortgage Education, New Mexico Education, New Mexico Policy, New Mexico Schools, Personal Finance Education, Real World Finance Skills, Responsible Borrowing, Southwest Public Policy Institute (SPPI), Student Debt, Youth Financial Education

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DC Journal: Trump’s Tariffs Are Changing How Consumers Use Credit

Post author By Lucas J. Parker
Post date December 15, 2025
1 Comment on DC Journal: Trump’s Tariffs Are Changing How Consumers Use Credit

Tariffs and credit price controls are squeezing American families From both sides.

Tags Bipartisan Policy Failure, BNPL Loans, Buy Now Pay Later, Consumer Credit, Consumer Finance, Consumer Prices, Consumption Tax, Cost Of Credit, Cost Of Living, credit access, Credit Availability, Credit Card Debt, Credit Markets, Credit Shortages, Debt Reliance, Economic Freedom, Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Federal Policy, Financial Inclusivity, Financial Literacy, financial regulation, Financial Stability, Free Market Economics, Government Intervention, Hidden Taxes, Household Debt, Inflation, Inflationary Pressure, Interest Rate Caps, Lending Caps, Lending Regulation, Market Distortion, Market-Based Solutions, Middle-Class Households, Personal Finance, Populism, Price Controls, Regressive Taxes, Regulatory Overreach, Small Loan Lending, Small-Dollar Loans, Stagflation, Subprime Credit, Tariffs, Trade Policy, Trade War, Working-Class Families

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Buried in Bias

Post author By Southwest Public Policy Institute
Post date December 12, 2025
1 Comment on Buried in Bias

The Center for Responsible Lending’s “Buried in Debt” report fails as policy analysis.

Tags Alternative Financial Services, Amortization Schedules, Annual Percentage Rate (APR), Banking Fees, Bolen Elliehausen Miller Study, Buried In Debt Report, Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), consumer choice, Consumer Credit Policy, Consumer Lending Research, Consumer Welfare, Cost Of Living Crisis, credit access, Credit Bureau Data, Credit Denial Rates, Credit Market Regulation, Credit Rationing, Credit Stacking, Credit Supply Constraints, Deep-Subprime Borrowers, Difference-In-Differences Analysis, Economic Opportunity, Evidence-Based Policymaking, Financial Hardship, financial inclusion, Financial Literacy, financial regulation, Financial Services Policy, Free Market Finance, Housing Cost Burden, Income Volatility, Interest Rate Caps, Loan Availability, Loan Disclosures, Market Distortion, Mortgage Finance, No Loan For You, No Loan For You!, Overdraft Fees, Payday Lending, Poverty And Inequality, Price Controls, Regulatory Economics, Regulatory Harm, Risk-Based Pricing, Selection Bias, Small-Dollar Credit Research, Small-Dollar Loans, Southwest Public Policy Institute (SPPI), Subprime Borrowers, Substitute Financial Products, Survivorship Bias, Too!, Total Cost Of Credit, Usury Laws

Culture Domestic Policy Economic Opportunity Economy Education Freedom and Reform Government Regulation Life Markets and Finance Political Thought Poverty & Welfare Poverty and Inequality Progressivism Public Opinion Top Issues Transparency Updates

The Need to Modernize Financial Literacy in Uncertain Economic Times

Post author By Lucas J. Parker
Post date December 6, 2025
1 Comment on The Need to Modernize Financial Literacy in Uncertain Economic Times

A modernized financial-literacy framework must equip students with practical, real-world tools to navigate an increasingly complex and often predatory consumer-finance landscape.

Tags Amortization Schedules, Annual Percentage Rate (APR), Consumer Finance, Consumer Protection, Credit Market Instruction, Credit Policy Impacts, Credit Scoring Education, Credit-Market Case Studies, Debt Management Education, Decision-Making Skills, Economic Mobility, Financial Curriculum Redesign, Financial Education Reform, Financial Independence For Students, Financial Literacy, Financial Technology (Fintech) Education, High School Curriculum Modernization, High-Cost Credit Products, Household Debt Burden, Industry Practitioner Insights, Lending Transparency, Loan Scenarios, Long-Term Mortgage Misalignment, Mortgage Interest Accrual, Opportunity Cost Understanding, Payday Loan Risks, Predatory Lending Awareness, Real-World Financial Skills, Regulatory Environment, Risk Assessment Training, Southwest Public Policy Institute (SPPI), Student Financial Outcomes, Youth Financial Preparedness

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The Mortgage Bankers Association’s Reply Is the Real Joke

Post author By Patrick M. Brenner
Post date October 25, 2025
No Comments on The Mortgage Bankers Association’s Reply Is the Real Joke

Mortgage Bankers Association

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s slow, self-serving defense of the 30-year mortgage proves that lifetime debt, not homeownership, is the product they’re really selling.

The Real Cost of Homeownership: Beyond the Mortgage and APR

Post author By Ed Harris
Post date October 15, 2025
No Comments on The Real Cost of Homeownership: Beyond the Mortgage and APR

This guest commentary was written by Ed Harris, CEO of Harris Northwest Advisors and a Visiting Contributor at the Southwest Public Policy Institute. In his argument about APR, Patrick Brenner is wrong but inadvertently correct on a larger point he doesn’t address. An APR calculation is mathematically accurate. Most fixed-rate 30-year mortgages are priced similarly, […]

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Compounding Interest: The Case Against the Confused Case Against the Case Against 30-Year Mortgages

Post author By Patrick M. Brenner
Post date October 13, 2025
No Comments on Compounding Interest: The Case Against the Confused Case Against the Case Against 30-Year Mortgages

In his letter responding to my column in The Wall Street Journal, “The Case Against 30-Year Mortgages,” former Freddie Mac executive David Andrukonis defends the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage as a transparent, borrower-friendly product. In “A Confused Case Against 30-Year Mortgages,” he argues that such loans are fully prepayable, giving homeowners flexibility to refinance or pay […]

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Compounding Interest: Reader Replies, Part IV

Post author By Patrick M. Brenner
Post date October 9, 2025
2 Comments on Compounding Interest: Reader Replies, Part IV

When you publish in The Wall Street Journal, you have to expect a few readers to come out swinging. Some disagree on principle; others on tone. And then there are those who lecture you like you just flunked Econ 101. Read the full series here. Meet Jay Wright, Adjunct Professor of Finance at Georgetown University. […]

Culture Debt Domestic Policy Economic Opportunity Economy Government Regulation Housing Markets and Finance Political Thought Public Opinion Reader Replies Transparency

Compounding Interest: Reader Replies, Part III

Post author By Patrick M. Brenner
Post date October 9, 2025
4 Comments on Compounding Interest: Reader Replies, Part III

The responses to my article for The Wall Street Journal “The Case Against 30-Year Mortgages” keep coming… They’re thoughtful, challenging, and occasionally humbling. What started as a critique of an outdated lending standard has evolved into a larger conversation about financial literacy, honesty in measurement, and the way we misunderstand the true cost of money. […]

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Compounding Interest: Reader Replies, Part II

Post author By Patrick M. Brenner
Post date October 9, 2025
2 Comments on Compounding Interest: Reader Replies, Part II

When The Wall Street Journal published my op-ed, “The Case Against 30-Year Mortgages,” I expected disagreement. What I didn’t expect was the flood of thoughtful, funny, and occasionally fiery responses from readers across the country. Read the full series here. Some wrote to debate, others to commiserate, and a few to wonder aloud whether the […]