Update 8/8/21: Department of Education extends student loan payment freeze one more (last) time until January. (NPR)

Financial Literacy

• This might be a good one to assign to the families of your students: NPR on having family money conversations.

Economics

• The July jobs report came out this morning and showed an increase of 943,000 and an upward revision of June. Unemployment dropped to 5.4%, wages were up, but labor force participation was largely unchanged. Jobs are still 5.7 million before February 2020 levels. For a summary of the release, check out Yahoo Finance. For the data and the detail, here is the BLS report.
• New jobless claims this week were down slightly from the prior week at 385,000. (Yahoo Finance)
• Mary Daly, President of the San Francisco Fed, explains what “full employment” is. (FRBSF)
• The debate continues on whether or not the end of the federal unemployment benefits will send workers back to work. Jeanna Smialek of the NYT covered this topic in anticipation of today’s jobs report release, as pundits will be looking for evidence in the numbers.
•  Another good one by Jeanna Smialek appeared last weekend in print and discusses the connection between home prices, interest rates, and the Fed. (NYT)

Managing Debt/Budgeting

• Here is a fairly extensive list of companies offering (often unadvertised) discounts to college students. (CNBC)
• Household debt jumps by the most in 14 years to nearly $15 trillion in the second quarter. (CNBC)
• Sales Tax holidays may already have happened in your state, especially if you are already back in school. But here is a comprehensive list of this year’s holidays. A dozen states’ tax holidays are THIS WEEKEND! taxadmin.org

Digital Currency

• The SEC is getting serious about Crypto. To get a feel for their position (and the history of crypto currencies as well as the mission of the SEC itself), it may be worth taking a few minutes to read this speech by Gary Gensler, SEC chair.
• The Government turns to Anchorage Digital, the first bank federally chartered for crypto currency, to help it manage all the crypto currency seized from criminals. (VOX)
•  Is there a place for a Central Bank Digital Currency? Fed Governer Chris Waller shares his views: a solution in search of problem. (MarketWatch)

Investing

• Robinhood may be turning out to be a meme stock itself. Once options were offered, the price jumped beyond its IPO price. (CNBC) The roller coaster ride dropped on Thursday, as early investors disclosed upcoming share sales. (Yahoo Finance) But Friday was looking like it was on the way back up again. (CNBC)

Higher Ed

• Could community colleges be the best vehicle for stimulating a more equitable economic recovery? (Chronicle of Higher Education)
• If you are into data, here is a listing of bachelor’s degrees awarded in the 2019-2020 school year by institution and major. (Higher Ed Data Stories)

Olympics

How much are those gold medals worth in terms of endorsements? (Forbes)

About the Author

Beth Tallman

Beth Tallman entered the working world armed with an MBA in finance and thoroughly enjoyed her first career working in manufacturing and telecommunications, including a stint overseas. She took advantage of an involuntary separation to try teaching high school math, something she had always dreamed of doing. When fate stepped in once again, Beth jumped on the opportunity to combine her passion for numbers, money, and education to develop curriculum and teach personal finance at Oberlin College. Beth now spends her time writing on personal finance and financial education, conducts student workshops, and develops finance curricula and educational content. She is also the Treasurer of Ohio Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy.

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