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In the new movie "Lottery Ticket," the rapper Bow Wow plays a sneaker salesman from a poor part of town who has to survive a three-day weekend after his neighbors find out he's holding the winning numbers. But for financially troubled consumers, the size of the jackpot may not matter: Five years out, people who win $150,000 are just as likely to declare bankruptcy as those who win less than $10,000. That's according to a new study by researchers at the University of Kentucky, the University of Pittsburgh and the Vanderbilt University Law School. The paper appears in a forthcoming issue of the Review of Economics and Statistics. "I've always been interested in whether you could solve people's problems to some extent by giving them additional cash," says Mark Hoekstra, assistant economics professor at Pittsburgh, who co-authored the paper with Kentucky's Scott Hankins and Vanderbilt's Paig...

  It's been a brutal summer for the economy. The housing sector, like a balloon batted in the air one last time by the government credit, resumed its inevitable fall. Economic growth slowed to a lead-footed 1.6 percent, and job growth is even more anemic. Meanwhile, consumers are cranky, the trade gap is gaping. Most signs point to a slow and steady recovery, but what if the pessimists are right, again? What if the United States isn't in the slow-lane to recovery, but rather on the precipice of another decline -- a double dip? To see where this re-recession might begin, my colleague Dan Indiviglio and I imagined five financial earthquakes, each with a single epicenter: housing, consumers, toxic assets, Europe, and the debt. The following five scenarios are listed in order of likelihood. 1. Housing's Mini-Bubble Pops Perhaps nothing poses as a big of a concern to the U.S. economy as its housing market. It's unclear how the governme...

It's been a brutal summer for the economy. The housing sector, like a balloon batted in the air one last time by the government credit, resumed its inevitable fall. Economic growth slowed to a lead-footed 1.6 percent, and job growth is even more anemic. Meanwhile, consumers are cranky, the trade gap is gaping. Most signs point to a slow and steady recovery, but what if the pessimists are right, again? What if the United States isn't in the slow-lane to recovery, but rather on the precipice of another decline -- a double dip? To see where this re-recession might begin, my colleague Dan Indiviglio and I imagined five financial earthquakes, each with a single epicenter: housing, consumers, toxic assets, Europe, and the debt. The following five scenarios are listed in order of likelihood. 1. Housing's Mini-Bubble Pops Perhaps nothing poses as a big of a concern to the U.S. economy as its housing market. It's unclear how the government...

Carlos Slim Helu (Carlos Slim), a telecom tycoon and billionaire with well-known frugal tendencies, has a net worth of $60.6 billion, according to Forbes. Assuming no changes in his net worth, he could spend $1,150 a minute for the next 100 years before he ran out of money. To put this in perspective, he could spend in 13 minutes what a minimum-wage earner brings home after an entire year of the daily grind. Granted, the world's billionaires (all 1,011 of them) are in the debatably enviable position of having, quite literally, more money than they can possibly spend, yet some are still living well below their means, and save money in surprising places. Even non-billionaires (currently 6,864,605,142 of us) can partake in these seven spending tips from frugal billionaires: 1. Keep Your Home Simple Billionaires can afford to live in the most exclusive mansions imaginable -- and many do, including Bill Gates' sprawling 66,000 square foot, $147.5 m...

Carlos Slim Helu (Carlos Slim), a telecom tycoon and billionaire with well-known frugal tendencies, has a net worth of $60.6 billion, according to Forbes. Assuming no changes in his net worth, he could spend $1,150 a minute for the next 100 years before he ran out of money. To put this in perspective, he could spend in 13 minutes what a minimum-wage earner brings home after an entire year of the daily grind. Granted, the world's billionaires (all 1,011 of them) are in the debatably enviable position of having, quite literally, more money than they can possibly spend, yet some are still living well below their means, and save money in surprising places. Even non-billionaires (currently 6,864,605,142 of us) can partake in these seven spending tips from frugal billionaires: 1. Keep Your Home Simple Billionaires can afford to live in the most exclusive mansions imaginable -- and many do, including Bill Gates' sprawling 66,000 square foot, $147.5 million dollar...

  Golf is a game of rules both obvious and arcane, and if you're going to play the game, you have to play by its rules. No matter what the cost. Today, a classic "what would you do?" moment. Zach Nash is a 14-year-old Wisconsin kid  who happens to be a fine golfer. So good, in fact, that he won a junior Wisconsin PGA tournament. Problem was, he won it by violating -- albeit unintentionally -- one of golf's most straightforward rules. He had too many clubs in his bag . And the worst part? It was a total accident, discovered long after the fact. Specifics : Nash's 77 won the boys' 13-14 division at the Milwaukee County Parks Tour Invitational, knocking off 31 other players. Afterward, Nash went to celebrate with one of his mentors, Chris Wood , head club pro at Rivermoor Golf Club. And that's where the troubles began.   Wood noticed an extra club in Nash's bag and pointed it out to him. Apparently, a friend of Nash's had left t...

Golf is a game of rules both obvious and arcane, and if you're going to play the game, you have to play by its rules. No matter what the cost. Today, a classic "what would you do?" moment. Zach Nash is a 14-year-old Wisconsin kid who happens to be a fine golfer. So good, in fact, that he won a junior Wisconsin PGA tournament. Problem was, he won it by violating -- albeit unintentionally -- one of golf's most straightforward rules. He had too many clubs in his bag . And the worst part? It was a total accident, discovered long after the fact. Specifics : Nash's 77 won the boys' 13-14 division at the Milwaukee County Parks Tour Invitational, knocking off 31 other players. Afterward, Nash went to celebrate with one of his mentors, Chris Wood , head club pro at Rivermoor Golf Club. And that's where the troubles began. Wood noticed an extra club in Nash's bag and pointed it out to him. Apparently, a friend of Nash's had left the club at his ho...

AP – A person cycles past a damaged road near the Avon River following Saturday's powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake, …   Slideshow: Powerful quake hits New Zealand http://news.yahoo.com/video/world-15749633/21751882 " class="media media1"> http://news.yahoo.com/video/world-15749633/21751882 " class="media media1">  Play Video http://news.yahoo.com/video/world-15749633/21751882 "> Earthquakes Video: New Zealand quake damage check Reuters http://news.yahoo.com/video/world-15749633/21750418 " class="media media1"> http://news.yahoo.com/video/world-15749633/21750418 " class="media media1">  Play Video http://news.yahoo.com/video/world-15749633/21750418 "> Earthquakes Video: New Zealanders assess damage after quake AP By ROB GRIFFITH, Associated Press Writer Rob Griffith, Associated Press Writer – Sun Sep 5, 6:09 am ET CHR...

AP – A person cycles past a damaged road near the Avon River following Saturday's powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake, …   Slideshow: Powerful quake hits New Zealand http://news.yahoo.com/video/world-15749633/21751882 " class="media media1"> http://news.yahoo.com/video/world-15749633/21751882 " class="media media1">  Play Video http://news.yahoo.com/video/world-15749633/21751882 "> Earthquakes Video: New Zealand quake damage check Reuters http://news.yahoo.com/video/world-15749633/21750418 " class="media media1"> http://news.yahoo.com/video/world-15749633/21750418 " class="media media1">  Play Video http://news.yahoo.com/video/world-15749633/21750418 "> Earthquakes Video: New Zealanders assess damage after quake AP By ROB GRIFFITH, Associated Press Writer Rob Griffith, Associated Press Writer – Sun Sep 5, 6:09 am ET CHR...

AP – A person cycles past a damaged road near the Avon River following Saturday's powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake, … Slideshow: Powerful quake hits New Zealand Play Video Earthquakes Video: New Zealand quake damage check Reuters Play Video Earthquakes Video: New Zealanders assess damage after quake AP CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand – T...