From the point of view of the gay community, the economic impact of legalizing gay marriage is a no brainer. But what are the costs and benefits to the economy overall, regardless of your sexual inclination?

Child labor has been given a bad rap around the world and deservedly so. However, all child labor isn’t necessarily bad. I for one have benefited greatly from my youthful work experiences and I bet you have too.

College tuition hurts those who need higher education the most– lower-income students. Back in your parent’s era, that may not have been much of a problem thanks to a growing middle class. But in America today, the middle class is disappearing, leaving more of us than ever facing impossible future tuition costs for our children.

My last column ended with two questions:             “Does a high school education prepare our youth to enter the work force, escape poverty and become productive citizen of the economy?”

It has been a long time since oil production in this country has been a source of growth. Between domestic regulation, depressed energy prices and off-shore projects, the action in oil has been elsewhere. Now that is beginning to change.

Over the last few years government authorities have gone after insider traders with increasing success. Now, news headlines indicate that there was actually a hedge fund club of sorts that regularly traded on illegal information.

Much has been made of the $78.9 billion profit that the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank made last year. All but $2 billion will be transferred over to the Treasury. It is a lot of money but in terms of return on capital it is less than spectacular, a mere 2.6%.

Taxes are not my favorite thing. Like everyone else, I would like to see less, rather than more, taxes in my life. However, there is one tax under consideration in Congress that I fully support

It is no accident that a growing number of Senators and Congressmen are supporting an end to insider trading among Washington lawmakers. Given the dismal approval ratings of the nation’s politicians, anything that can raise ratings is at least being considered. But don’t count on the passage of this bill.

Our national debt stands at $14 trillion and rising $3 million a minute or $3.99 billion a day, every day. Given that our debt ceiling at the moment stands at $14.294 trillion, it is only a matter of time before we once again have to renegotiate the debt ceiling.