The Economist.
Hi, John Prudeau here.
I host Checks and Balance, our podcast on US politics.
Welcome to Editor's Picks.
Here's an article from the latest edition of The Economist, handpicked by our team and read aloud.
I hope you enjoy it.
Financial advice was once doled out solely by well-paid professionals and solely to the wealthy.
Then, from the 1980s, celebrity advisors took their tips to large radio and TV audiences, especially in America.
Today, legions of social media finfluencers spout off recommendations to anyone, anywhere.
As in previous decades, the recommendations of investment gurus,
how to cut expenses, build a savings fund or avoid scams, are sensible and universal.
Beyond the shared basics, though, their counsel differs in telling ways.
They may not know it, but they hold up a mirror to their country's financial mores,
resisting audiences' vices or accidentally reinforcing them.
In America, no young Finfluencer yet matches the stature of Dave Ramsey,
a gruff 65-year-old radio star turned podcaster.
Much of his advice, offered in a stern, fatherly style, is evergreen, built around emergency funds, sensible saving,
and buying shares for the long term.
Mr. Ramsey's guidance, however, is puritanical in its attitude to debt.
Sensibly, he urges listeners to pay off high-interest consumer debts early,