Helped along by robust lobbying efforts, the imperiled mortgage finance companies resisted stronger oversight as they expanded.

Social scientists have learned that there is power in tying certain behaviors to habitual cues through relentless advertising.

When I mention that I’m writing a book for a doctor or an executive, I sense a certain discomfort, as if I’d said that I write term papers for a living.

The advantages that the mortgage giants gained from their unique arrangement with the federal government were huge. Now it looks as if the bill is coming due.

Concern about the stability of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two mortgage-lending giants, weighed on the markets and sent stocks down again last week.

Ms. Wright is the chief executive of Carver Bancorp in New York.

For some dual-income parents, the arrival of the night nanny is making the late-night slog with a newborn a thing of the past.

If economics is the study of the allocation of scarce goods and services, what could be scarcer or more precious than love?

Has the push for ethanol led farmers to grow more corn and less of other food crops and how much has that influenced rising prices for commodities like wheat?

How many mutual fund managers can consistently pick stocks that outperform the broad stock market averages — as opposed to just being lucky now and then?