No Free Bubble, Value-Packed Cars, 25 Ways to Improve Your Finances & More @ The RoundUp

The customary weekly roundup

Newspapers and magazines hold a wealth of information. Each roundup I’ll do my best to present some of the more enlightening, educating and at times practical articles I’ve read during the past week. My picks for this week are:

• No Free Bubble @ NY Times - Simple logic dictates the same people and corporations that reaped fantastic and legendary profits should also be held accountable for the current crisis? A wide and generous federal safety net says otherwise. The question of whether the government should bail out these individuals and corporations is a deep one in a capitalistic society which holds entrepreneurship so dear.
  
  
• Unhappy America @ The Economist - With the statue of liberty contemplating as a front page cover The Economist calls for an American soul search and self examination. A very interesting read.
  
  
• Ten Most Value-Packed Cars @ Forbes - Very practical and very current even with slightly declining oil prices (please don’t forget where we were two weeks ago).

On to carnivals:

The Festival of Frugality #135 - The Frugal All Over Edition was hosted by Antishay Ventenne. My favorite posts from this edition are:

• The Booze of Summer: A Quick and Dirty Guide to Lighter, Cheaper Drinks @ Cheap Healthy Good – A good practical guide to summer drinks with tips on cutting on both calories and costs.
  
  
• 25 Ways To Improve Your Financial Situation In Under 10 Minutes @ SavingAdvice – Jeffrey Strain is one of my favorite bloggers and I always look forward to reading more of his original content.

The Money Hacks Carnival #21 was hosted by HelpMyCashGrow.Com. I recommend the following posts:

• People who like to "split the tab" are no longer my friends @ Budgets are Sexy – At first this post may sound a bit on the misanthropic side but I have to agree with the author of this post.
  
  
• Average Durations of Previous Bear Markets @ Dividend Growth Investor – I actually thought about writing a post about previous bear market history myself. Couldn’t have done a better job.

The 162nd Carnival of Personal Finance: Baseball edition was hosted by Taking Charge. I enjoyed the following posts:

• Goals Are Great Motivators @ Free From Broke – A good reminder of the importance of goals.
  
  
• Backlash @ Save and Conquer –Deals with the painful results of a weak regulatory environment.

If this wasn’t enough, here’s more from fellow personal finance bloggers:

• Stock Market Diversification Works! The Proof @ The Digerati Life – In favor of asset allocation and time.
  
  
• Is Having More Income Equivalent to Having More Debt? @ The Baglady – Checking out a new calculator by NY Times.
  
  
• Building Multiple Income Streams As A Career @ Moolanomy – Presenting a very interesting approach to multiple income streams.