This column highlights the top economic stories of the week.

Reports of the demise of the U.S. dollar may be premature. But when some of the world’s most powerful investors are warning of the currency’s decline, investors take notice. More on this story here.

There are many cynics out there that critique and question the future of sustainable products and businesses. It’s easy to side with them, mostly because it’s difficult to understand what comprises a “sustainable” product which in turn creates a domino chain of skepticism about achievability. The industry is in self-defining mode and most of us lack the degrees in chemistry, biology, natural sciences or any other course of study that might support our inclination to trust what marketers tell us is “safe” and what is not. More on this story here.

Mumbai, India’s commercial capital, has grown quickly in recent decades - at the expense of its estuaries, environmentalist advocates say. More on this story here.

Read more of this story »

Scientists with research group SRI International recently completed a successful wave power test in the Monterey Bay off the coast of Santa Cruz, CA. While the buoy-like device only generates enough electricity to power a refrigerator light bulb, the design is an improvement on its problem-prone predecessors.

Read more of this story »

Step 1: Click once a day at TheHungerSite.com.

You’ll fund the donation of 1.1 cups of food. While you’re there, take a look at their equally worthy sister sites.

Step 2: Play at FreeRice.com.

Study for the GRE, test your English abilities, or simply bone up on your vocabulary. While you do, your clicks will generate funding for donating free rice to the hungry. Better yet, share this online game with students you know.

Step 3: Sign the petition at HelpSweden.org.

This tongue-in-cheek organization turns our concepts of poverty around and asks for a renewed commitment to the Millennium Development Goals. Read more about what makes HelpSweden a good idea.

Step 4: Put some of your paycheck into Kiva.org.

You’ll get your money back and you’ll have helped somebody to build a business or a home.

Read more of this story »

Peter was a friend, colleague and politically courageous champion of the downtrodden and mistreated of the entire Western Hemisphere. Everyone who met Peter, talked to Peter, worked with Peter, or argued with Peter, will miss the passing of a great American.

In 2002, 2003 and 2006, Camejo ran for governor of California on a platform of abortion rights, the legalization and taxation of marijuana, universal health care, and a moratorium on the death penalty. In 1976, he was the Socialist Workers Party presidential candidate. In 2004, Camejo was Ralph Nader’s pick for vice president. I have voted for Camejo on several occasions.

Read more of this story »

One of the primary imperatives for being an environmentally conscious consumer is to vote with your dollars - support companies that have a positive impact on society and the environment by purchasing their products and services. In the minds of many, that concept is easy to apply to the day-to-day stuff we buy at the grocery store or retail outlets. But some folks forget that our longer term investments can speak just as loudly.

Enter Socially Responsible Investing (SRI). SRI takes into account the impact that companies have on society and the planet, and recognizes that we can factor these concerns into our investment choices. Now our decisions as investors, which used to be determined solely on corporate financial performance – perhaps based on short-term and short-sighted goals – can now be based on the whole of a company’s standing, including their impact on the environment.

Once only a small piece of the total investment market, SRI now represents $2.71 trillion, more than 10% of all investments. That figure is up from $639 billion in 1995, an increase of more than 300%. As SRI has matured, green investing specifically has taken much of the limelight - as demand for clean technology, alternative and renewable energy, green building and other environmentally driven businesses rise, so does the desire to invest in them.

With this growth, opportunities for us as individuals to get into green investing and SRI abound. There are the usual suspects like stocks and bonds, mutual funds and venture capital. For example, dozens of mutual funds exist for investors looking to put their money where their mouth is, and support companies who share their values. And many of these funds focus on green companies, with large numbers of them joining the ranks within the last year or two.

Read more of this story »

Market meltdowns, like the one we saw last week, and the one that may be forthcoming this week (as of this morning, the Asian markets took another nosedive), are no reason to panic.

In fact, unless you are on the cusp of retirement (or currently retired), market corrections are mostly positive news. Corporate profits are at multi-year highs. U.S. corporations have as more cash on hand than at any time in history. Because of the first two reasons, dividends and buybacks are also on the rise. The correction allows you to buy these assets and cash flows for that much less.

Whether you invest responsibly or not, most individuals need to keep these four principles in mind:

• Be diversified. Unless you have a few million and do not need to work, you should not be concentrated in any one company or asset class. Even if you are getting generous options grants from your employer, you should periodically diversify to protect your downside. Proper allocation is where a good financial adviser can really earn his or her pay, because arriving at such an allocation requires taking into account your life stage, your goals, your current assets, your income, and a lot of other factors.
• Be low cost. The average actively managed mutual fund charges an astounding 1.57 percent of assets each year. If you figure that stock returns historically average 8 - 12 percent, that is a lot of money for no risk. Still, that figure would be fine if they consistently outperformed the market benchmarks. Alas, they do not. While about 40 percent of actively managed funds beat their benchmark in any one year, less than 15 percent beat the benchmarks over 5 years. If you consider that index funds charge 60 to 90 percent less than 1.57 percent, you might as well be content with market returns.
• Maximize your company's 401k plan. Nowhere else can you get a tax deduction, tax deferral, and free money in the form of a company match. Think about it. A company match means that you get a 100 percent return automatically. No investment vehicle in the world can offer that kind of return without risk. Even if your company does not have a match, the tax deduction can enhance your dollars by 15 to 35 percent. Still pretty good.
• Be systematic. Whether you resolve to invest once a week, once a month, once a quarter, or whatever, be disciplined about saving a set amount. This is yet another reason to utilize your 401k plan, because money will be taken out of your paycheck every time you get paid, and you will not even miss it. Systematic savings plans also allow you to take advantage of lower prices when the market corrects.

If you follow the above principles, then most of you will do just fine. Concentrate on making money through your employment or entrepreneurial endeavors. The more one obsesses over making money in the market, the more likely they are to start market timing, and believe me, almost everyone who tries to beat the market with timing fails. Even the professionals.

You might be wondering which, if any, vehicle accomplishes this task. My favorite mutual fund is the Vanguard FTSE Social Index Fund (VFTSX). Based on the FTSE4Good Index Series, it focuses on environmental sustainability, human rights, and corporate governance. The management fee, at 25 basis points (versus the aforementioned 157 basis points for actively managed brethren), is the lowest among all SRI funds. Versus non-screened indexes such as Vanguard's S&P 500 Index Fund, this fund is a little more heavily weighted towards technology and healthcare companies, but not so much that it would wreck a sound asset allocation.