Business and Economics

The U.S. government debt is massive and growing out of control. Our debt is a burden on our grandchildren. Those are statements that most Americans have become accustomed to hearing. Edward Prescott says they are two of seven widely propagated myths. --by Carrie Barnett

Do people with disabilities earn less money than their able-bodied co-workers? Are they less likely to be employed? ASU researchers decided to find out. --by Carrie Barnett

Al Qaeda operatives reportedly substituted the word "wedding" for "attack" in e-mail messages. Finding these kinds of word substitutions has been a hit-or-miss process for federal investigators. It's also tough duty for corporate security pros who try to catch employee collusion. But new research from ASU shows that computer programs are capable of detecting word swaps that conceal the true meaning of e-mail messages.

Why are some parts of the world rich and getting richer? Why are some nations mired in poverty? The questions are among the most fundamental in economics. If economists can discover how economies improve their living standards, then the logical next step is to craft policies to make it happen. --by Carrie Barnett

"We never tell the contractor what to do, because we're hiring him to know what he's doing," says Dean Kashiwagi, director of ASU's Performance Based Studies Research Group. The group has developed a hands-off approach to managing contractors in the construction industry. The result? Lower costs, faster delivery and a higher quality finished product. --by Melissa Crytzer Fry

Maintaining the boundary between work and home has always been tricky. Cell phones, PDAs and laptops make the task even more difficult. Blake Ashforth studies the ways in which people maintain their personal/professional boundaries. --by Carrie Barnett

Understanding the economy requires a sense of what Dawn McLaren calles connectivity—the way in which many factors come together to create a sort of force that affects us all. --by Jessica McCann

Accurate economic forecasting involves more than number crunching—it also takes a bit of gut instinct. --by Jessica McCann

Do you ever pull a magazine from the back of the rack at the supermarket? You are not alone--most shoppers never pick the one in front. Andrea Morales studies this phenomenon of "product contamination" and how it costs retailers. --by Carrie Barnett