National Bureau of Economic Research

Die Broke -- on Purpose:
An Unconventional Retirement Plan

Nearly half of Americans die with virtually no financial assets left, a new study reports. But is that always such a bad thing? Consider a financial life in which you amass exactly the amount of money you need, and run out of cash the day you die.

The Impact of Better Teachers: $100 Trillion More in U.S. GDP

A new study says top-performing teachers turn out students who learn more than the students who had the worst teachers. And that extra learning has a huge impact on earnings -- and the nation's economy. Still, some educational experts say the study raises more questions than it answers.

Well-Educated Women Pay a High Price to Have Kids

Highly skilled women will lose about a quarter of a million dollars, or as much as a third of their lifetime earnings, by choosing to have a child, making the prospect of raising a family a far more expensive one for college grads than their less-educated counterparts, a new study shows.

Double-Dip Recession? Yield Curve Says No

Despite what so many pundits say, the most accurate economic predictor -- the yield curve -- says we're not heading for a double-dip recession. But don't celebrate too much: experts still see sluggish growth ahead.

Economic Surge Caps 2009

Is the recession finally over? It may well be, after the U.S. economy surged a better-than-expected 5.7% in the fourth quarter of 2009. The growth, driven by inventory gains, marks two consecutive quarters of GDP expansion -- usually long enough for the National Bureau of Economic Research to declare the end of a slump.