Since the recent IPCC Report on Climate Change came out, asserting that global warming is caused by humans and will cause harm if unchecked, there have been a torrent of Op-Eds and blog entries criticizing the report and claiming global warming is a hoax. Unlike Frosty Hardison, I believe in the value of free speech, so I took the time to read quite a few of those articles and blog posts yesterday.

One thing that really bothers me about some of these writings, or the comments of individuals who agree with them, is that they don’t seem to understand any of the science behind global warming. The chief complaint I have is that people don’t understand that global warming is a long-term trend. The thing about a trend is that deviations from it are always possible. For instance, let’s think about the stock market. Over the past 100 years, the long term trend has been an upward climb. However, there have been days, weeks, and even years where the stock market has tanked. Yet overall, the country has been growing, and these “down times” were merely deviations from a long term trend.

The Commerce Department reported Thursday that the savings rate for all of 2006 was a negative 1 percent, meaning that not only did people spend all the money they earned but they also dipped into savings or increased borrowing to finance purchases. The 2006 figure was lower than a negative 0.4 percent in 2005 and was the poorest showing since a negative 1.5 percent savings rate in 1933 during the Great Depression.

Does it scare anyone else that on average, the country is spending much more than it’s saving at the same time social security is on the verge of collapsing?

I posted an article last year about the 2005 savings rate being negative. Below is a list of “money tips” from that article. Check the comments from the article for more tips.

George’s Financial Tips