Helaine Olen

California

Opinion columnist focusing on politics, economics and American life

Education: Smith College, BA in English

Helaine Olen is a contributor to Post Opinions and the author of "Pound Foolish: Exposing the Dark Side of the Personal Finance Industry" and co-author of "The Index Card: Why Personal Finance Doesn’t Have to Be Complicated." Her work has appeared in Slate, the Nation, the New York Times, the Atlantic and many other publications. She serves on the advisory board of the Economic Hardship Reporting Project and lives in New York City with her husband, sons and poodle daughter.
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Latest from Helaine Olen

Expanding child labor is exactly what America’s kids don’t need

Too many kids are working illegally in dangerous jobs. A Republican solution: drop the restrictions.

March 22, 2023

Vanishing phone customer support is driving us all insane

Why it's increasingly hard to reach customer support by phone — if it's possible at all.

March 13, 2023

This all-but-forgotten con man sold America on ‘fake it till you make it’

The history of a huckster offers a lesson here, if we want to heed it.

February 27, 2023

As basic health care grows unaffordable, the rich seek eternal youth

A record number of Americans say they can't afford necessary health care, while the wealthy drop increasing sums on elaborate out-of-pocket measures.

February 6, 2023

Ticketmaster’s Taylor Swift debacle was so bad it united the parties

At tea time (and also at a Senate hearing), everybody agrees that Ticketmaster is the worst kind of monopoly.

January 26, 2023

A strike offers a window into what nurses really want: Enough staff

The nurses on strike at two New York City hospitals this week wanted more than money. They wanted help.

January 13, 2023

RIP P-22, Hollywood’s coolest celebrity cat

The mountain lion made his home in Los Angeles for the better part of a decade.

December 20, 2022

How progressive can a college be when instructors make poverty wages?

There's only so much you can claim to care about justice when your instructors can't afford a cup of coffee.

December 13, 2022

ABC offers a masterclass in how not to handle workplace romance

Distracting, maybe. But T.J. Holmes and Amy Robach did something extremely normal by falling in love at work.

December 7, 2022

Medicare Advantage? More like Medicare Disadvantage.

Private plans for seniors were supposed to save money while providing better care. That's not how it turned out.

November 30, 2022