Some seniors have been burned by cards with a short-term low interest rate followed by a high interest rate, so be sure to read the fine print and know how long the rate will last.

FORBES: 6 Credit Mistakes Retirees Make

Another piece of fine print to study is the interest rate charged on new purchases.

FORBES: Using Zero-Interest Credit Cards To Help Pay Off Debt

In fact, figures for 2012 show that while e-book sales are still on the rise, the rate of decline in print sales has actually slowed.

BBC: Do you have the write stuff to be a novelist?

In March 2012, a survey of 40 papers found that they were losing print advertising revenue at seven times the rate they were gaining digital ad dollar.

FORBES: Pew Case Studies Highlight Promising Avenues, And Some Pitfalls, For Struggling Papers

Digital revenues, while growing, aren't doing so at the rate required to replace losses from print, forcing most papers to cut staff and quality.

FORBES: On The Cover/Top Stories

For example, the Fed could publicly announce that its new target was a 20 percent inflation rate, and that it would print as much money as it took to hit this target.

FORBES: Central Banks Are Never "Out of Ammunition"

Because the interest rate varies based on the prime rate, which you would know if you read the fine print.

FORBES: The "Schumer Box" is Flawed

The wonder of a currency board is that it is not meant to allow the authorities any discretion at all: in Hong Kong's case, the three note-issuing commercial banks may print money only by surrendering equivalent dollars to the monetary authority at the set rate.

ECONOMIST: The Hong Kong dollar: Off the peg? | The

The Pew report points out that some issuers (Bank of America) no longer provide the rate or terms for the penalty fee, only including a sentence in the fine print that states they reserve the right to impose a penalty fee.

FORBES: Many Credit Card Issuers Hiding Penalty Rates, Study Finds

The Fed might still need to print some money, but much less than would be required if it tried to raise the inflation rate without announcing an explicit target.

FORBES: Central Banks Are Never "Out of Ammunition"

The more fundamental problem was that without its familiar interest-rate-based benchmark, it had no good way to figure out how much money it should print.

FORBES: Federal Reserve Takes Another Step Toward Rule-Based Monetary Policy