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August 18, 2026 

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DISINTERMEDIATION: A general deterioration in the profitability of a bank because it pays high interest rates on short-term borrowing, but earns relatively low interest rates on long-term lending. This was a big, BIG problem for savings and loans (S&Ls) during the 1970s and ultimately caused many of them to fail in the 1980s. S&Ls were designed (by law) to make long-term (30-year) home loans to consumers, but to get the funds for these loans using standard savings accounts. When inflation and interest rates shot up in the 1970s, S&Ls found it necessary to pay savers higher rates to get the funds. But, they still had a bunch of home loans--with low interest rates--that were 15, 20, or 25 years from being repaid. For several years, S&Ls received 6 percent on many of their loans, but paid out something like 12 percent. This gradually eroded their profitability until many were forced to close their doors.

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UNEMPLOYMENT RATE, MEASUREMENT PROBLEMS

The official unemployment rate, which measures the proportion of the civilian labor force 16 years or older that is not engaged in productive activities but is actively seeking employment, might be either overstated or understated due to discouraged workers, part-time workers, and unreported legal or illegal employment. Taken together, these measurement problems suggest that the official unemployment rate is likely understated during business-cycle contraction and overstated during business-cycle expansions.

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PINK FADFLY
[What's This?]

Today, you are likely to spend a great deal of time calling an endless list of 800 numbers looking to buy either a T-shirt commemorating last Friday (you know why) or a rotisserie oven that can also toast bread. Be on the lookout for mail order catalogs with hidden messages.
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This isn't me! What am I?

Helping spur the U.S. industrial revolution, Thomas Edison patented nearly 1300 inventions, 300 of which came out of his Menlo Park "invention factory" during a four-year period.
"Our vision controls the way we think and, therefore, the way we act . . . The vision we have of our jobs determines what we do and the opportunities we see or don't see. "

-- Charles Koch, executive

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