I didn’t pay anything for Radiohead’s download: “I didn’t pay anything to download Radiohead’s In Rainbows last Wednesday. When the checkout page on the band’s Web site allowed me to type in whatever price I wanted, I put 0.00, the lowest I could go. My economist friends say this makes me a rational being.”

Consumers Will Soon Have To Live Within Their Means: “So I haven’t talked myself out of my prediction. I’ve talked myself further into it. Note that I’m not predicting a recession, though one wouldn’t surprise me. But I believe the evidence is powerful that, as incredible as it may seem, U.S. consumers are going to start living within their means again. Brace yourself.”

Lucky People vs. Unlucky People: “Of course, not all opportunities are scams. In fact, some are genuine opportunities of a lifetime, resulting in untold fame and fortune. A few years ago, I decided to discover why some people regularly encounter such lucky opportunities, while others repeatedly sent $5 to untrustworthy sharks. The work took 10 years to complete and involved studying the lives of over a thousand exceptionally lucky and unlucky people.”

And some carnivals from the past week that may be of interest:

Frugality
Personal Finance