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Last week there was a column in The Sun that asked the question, “What happens when the American dream dies?” As noted in the column the American dream of “infinite plenty, a bottomless cup of creature comforts, and fair rewards for hard work” are f
From bustling Wall Street to the quiet corridors of the Federal Reserve, there's widespread agreement that the once-sizzling U.S. economy is slowing. The question now is what's next: a return to stable, modest growth or a skid into recessi
OK, the United States may no longer be able to make it in the car business, but we're still number one at finance, right? When it comes to shuffling money, nobody does it better.
Americans increased their borrowing in June at a much faster pace than expected, with the rise led by higher credit card debt. The Federal Reserve reported that consumer borrowing rose at an annual rate of 5.7% in June, up sharply from a 3.3 % incre
Perhaps the oddest and most depressing fact about the U.S. economy these days is the lack of real wage growth. The unemployment rate has been below 5% since December, and productivity growth is still looking strong. Yet wages and salaries, adjusted f
For most Americans the rising price of gas has been a major headache, but for the 42,000 men and women who drive New York City's famed yellow taxis, sustained high fuel prices have endangered their livelihood. And slowing economic growth could
Unemployment crept up to a seasonally adjusted 4.8% in July, its highest level in 5 months. That, combined with rising inflation, which clocked in at a 14-year-high annual rate of 4.3% in June, raised fears that energy prices may be slowing the econo
The federal government keeps two sets of books. The set the government promotes to the public has a healthier bottom line: a $318 billion deficit in 2005. The set the government doesn't talk about is the auditied financial statement produced b
That diversification out of the dollar, with a lot going into gold, has begun. A regime change is afoot - though few have yet recognized it.
If the court in New York approves Delta's request to cancel its pilots' pensions effective Sept. 2, the government's pension insurer would take over the plan and pay pilots a reduced benefit based on when they retire and other factors.
Gripped by caution, employers slowed hiring in July, pushing the nation's unemployment rate to a five-month high and putting pressure on the Federal Reserve to take its foot off the economic brakes. The Labor Department reported that employers
In order to make a dent in underfunding now estimated at $450 billion, the bill requires plans to be 100 percent funded, up from the current 90 percent level, giving companies seven years to reach that goal.
A Republican election-year effort to fuse a cut in inheritance taxes on multimillion-dollar estates with the first minimum wage increase in nearly a decade was rejected by the Senate late Thursday.
Yesterday brought news that Toyota sells more automobiles in America than Ford does. But nothing to worry about, say economists, soothingly.
(I'm so shocked) US consumer spending showed the smallest gain of the year in June while prices climbed, framing the dilemma faced by the Federal Reserve in deciding whether slower growth or inflation is the biggest threat to the economy.
Final pension reform legislation headed for a vote in the U.S. Senate this week not only will help bankrupt airlines save their traditional retirement plans, but also is supported by General Motors Corp. and the United Auto Workers.
All the economists who missed the stock bubble—this is almost all economists—are just about to be embarrassed again. Several reports released this week provide the strongest evidence yet that the housing bubble may finally be deflating.
For years, I have argued that because of huge, unfunded liabilities, the US government is already technically bankrupt. Now no less an official authority than a Federal Reserve researcher publicly agrees! Prof. Laurence Kotikoff of Boston Universit
The House rushed to pass pension legislation meant to give retirees greater financial security and prevent airlines from dumping their plans on the government. After a year of delays and missed deadlines, the bill could be on the presiden
Republican leaders were confident late Friday that they can push through the House the first minimum wage increase in a decade, along with a cut in inheritance taxes on multimillion-dollar estates. But combining the two volatile issues was sure to
The House of Representatives on Saturday voted to gradually increase the federal minimum wage to $7.25 an hour and also to cut estate taxes paid mostly by the wealthy. By a vote of 230-180, the House approved the election-year legislation that lik
The economy throttled back in the second quarter as consumers and companies turned cautious amid surging energy prices. Wall Street rallied on the hope that a break in two years of interest-rate pain may be in sight. The nation's gross domesti
After months of fevered lobbying and bitter debate, the Chicago City Council passed a groundbreaking ordianance yesterday requiring "big box" stores, like Wal-Mart and Home Depot, to pay a minimum wage of $10/hr by 2010, along with at least
“So, a budget solution is out of the question. Now it is up to Ben Bernanke and the Federal Reserve to destroy the currency instead. In short, yes, we are bankrupt.”
Under those bearish circumstances, gains would be few and far between. But a "bunker portfolio" with a few smart mutual funds could at least contain the financial damage.
In prepared remarks to the Senate Banking Committee, Bernanke warned Wednesday that inflation remains "of concern" to policy makers.
The upsurge in Middle East violence and resulting spike in crude oil prices poses new risks to the US economy, which is already cooling from higher interest rates and other factors, experts say. With concerns rising about an expansion of the confl
Prof Kotlikoff said that, by some measures, the US is already bankrupt. "To paraphrase the Oxford English Dictionary, is the United States at the end of its resources, exhausted, stripped bare, destitute, bereft, wanting in property, or wrecked
Gold rose to a six-week high as investors bought the metal as a haven and a hedge against inflation, after escalating violence in the Middle East pushed crude oil to a record. Gold has jumped 8.4% this month, after falling in May and June, as bomb
Increases in "GDP" these days come from consumption , not production.
