recession

Stories 161 - 180 | << Prev   Next >>

The Stimulus May Have Worked
The Stimulus May Have Worked

The Stimulus May Have Worked

(Newser) - Jim Surowiecki, writing for the New Yorker, says that the Obama stimulus package worked surprisingly well. Yet, Surowiecki notes, Obama gets little credit for it because he did the economically, rather than politically, expedient thing. Rather than lump-sum tax rebates, which consumers tend to horde, he gave taxpayers a small...

Fed: We Could Help Economy...
 Fed: We Could 
 Help Economy... 

Fed: We Could Help Economy...

...But we won't just yet

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve yesterday reassured the public that it was “prepared to provide additional accommodation if needed” to support the recovery, but that it didn’t think it was needed just yet. But merely suggesting the possibility was enough to send markets in the right direction, with interest on...

Middle Class Voter to Obama: I'm Still Waiting for Change

Woman fears return to hot-dogs-and-beans era

(Newser) - An angry black middle class voter confronted President Obama at a Town Hall meeting yesterday, saying: "I'm still waiting " for change. The woman, at the meeting arranged and broadcast live by CNBC, said she was "exhausted" defending the president, "exhausted defending the mantle of change that...

Recession Ended Last June, Analysts Say

Tell that to the unemployed, who are likely to stay that way for years

(Newser) - Break out the champagne: The recession is over! In fact, it’s been over since June 2009, according to a new report from the National Bureau of Economic Research, an unofficial group that marks the start and end of such economic events. Things may not be great, the committee concluded,...

Over-50 Jobless May Be Out of Work for Good

Younger workers likely to get rehired first

(Newser) - A lot of unemployed Americans over 50 are getting the unhappy sense that they may as well kiss the workforce goodbye—nobody is going to hire them again. Blame the fact that the recovery is so sluggish. At the current rate it will take as long as 8 years for...

Ignore the Stats: Credit Card Debt Still a Big Problem

Michelle Singletary: Numbers look good because of bank write-offs

(Newser) - A recent spate of reports suggests that consumers are finally getting smart about plastic by paying down their credit card debt. Hold the celebration, writes Michelle Singletary. A closer look shows that one of the big reasons overall debt is shrinking is not because consumers are paying it back but...

Jobless 'Wasteland': Europe, US on Brink of Social Revolt

Recession left 'gaping wounds' says IMF head

(Newser) - To those who think the worst of the recession is over, the head of the IMF has this to say: "We are not safe." An astounding 30 million jobs have been lost since the beginning of the financial crisis , three-quarters of those in richer economies, a new report...

Broke 'Rents Crack Down on Kids' Sprees

Managing the expectations of your free-spending kids

(Newser) - What to do with a 10-year-old daughter who insists—insists!—on designer 'jeggings' for fall? "Manage expectations," advises the Wall Street Journal in a feature on suddenly cash-strapped middle income parents and their "costly" kids. Today's children face a real drop in their standard of living,...

Cuba's 500K Layoffs a Sharp Capitalist Turn

Raul Castro's slow reforms hastened by crap economy

(Newser) - Cuba's announcement that it's looking to whack a half-million workers off the state payroll by March is a significant move toward capitalism, reports the Wall Street Journal. Bearing some 85% of the nation's 5.5 million workers on the government payroll, as well as a ravaged economy, the island nation...

Big Banks Still Think We're Chumps
 Big Banks 
 Still Think 
 We're Chumps 
OPINION

Big Banks Still Think We're Chumps

Citigroup hasn't learned its lesson from financial crisis

(Newser) - Have the big banks learned their lesson from the financial crisis? Not a chance, writes Charlie Gasparino in the Daily Beast . Citigroup’s recent attempt to bar a well-respected financial analyst from questioning its executives about accounting practices, plus new documents proving the bank’s top brass knew about its...

For More Kids, Grandparents the New Mom and Dad

Some 3 million children are raised by them

(Newser) - As our economy sank, the number of children being raised by their grandparents rose. A Pew Research Center analysis of census data found that 2.9 million American kids are being raised by grandma and grandpa—up 16% from 2000. But one period in that decade, 2007 to 2008, saw...

It's 1938 All Over Again
 It's 1938 All Over Again 
Paul Krugman

It's 1938 All Over Again

And World War II isn't walking through that door

(Newser) - The US economy has been crippled by financial crisis, and the president’s too-cautious policies have failed to stem the bleeding. More stimulus is needed, but the public has soured on spending and plans to kick Democrats out of office. Sound familiar? That was the situation in 1938, writes Paul...

Obama Weighs New Wave of Tax Cuts, Stimulus

Team searches for ways to bolster economy

(Newser) - With economic recovery looking sluggish at best , President Obama is considering a national infrastructure program, alongside a wave of tax cuts for businesses and individuals. Up for discussion are additional tax cuts for small businesses, a possible payroll tax cut for businesses and individuals, and other tax breaks aimed at...

Record Number Enrolled in Medicaid
Record Number Enrolled in Medicaid

Record Number Enrolled in Medicaid

One in 6 Americans now in federal anti-poverty programs

(Newser) - The recession has sent a record one in six Americans into federal anti-poverty programs, according to a new USA Today survey. More than 50 million are now enrolled in Medicaid, a number that has jumped 17% since the recession’s official start in December 2007. “Virtually every Medicaid director...

Hands Off, Obama: Let Housing Prices Fall
Hands Off, Obama:
Let Housing Prices Fall
opinion

Hands Off, Obama: Let Housing Prices Fall

False incentives will hurt us in the long run

(Newser) - In case you missed it, be advised that home sales have fallen off a cliff. This week's grim numbers will no doubt raise the call for the Obama administration to reach into its bag of tricks (bring back that tax credit, maybe?) to encourage people to buy and thus keep...

US Birth Rate Tumbles in Recession

It hasn't been this low in about a century

(Newser) - Forget the Dow and the GDP. Here's the latest economic indicator: The US birth rate has fallen to its lowest level in at least a century as many people apparently decided they couldn't afford more mouths to feed. The birth rate dropped for the second year in a row since...

Fixing the Economy Is a Lot Like Parenting
Fixing the Economy
Is a Lot Like Parenting
DAVID BROOKS

Fixing the Economy Is a Lot Like Parenting

It's all about 'good values' and a secure environment

(Newser) - Americans debated the merits of fiscal stimulus a lot—in particular how big it should be. But it's important not to lose the forest for the trees when engineering an economic recovery, David Brooks writes for the New York Times . Consider Germany, which had a much smaller stimulus and is...

How Banks' Fake Daisy-Chains Led to Meltdown
 How Banks' Fake 
 Daisy-Chains Led 
 to Meltdown 



investigation

How Banks' Fake Daisy-Chains Led to Meltdown

Self-dealing artificially propped up market for CDOs

(Newser) - An extensive ProPublica investigation reveals what it calls “one of the greatest episodes of self-dealing in financial history.” Banks, most notably Merrill Lynch, set the stage for the economic meltdown by rewarding themselves for said “self-dealing” during the final two years of the housing bubble. They created...

Krugman: We're Not Bouncing Back

'Policy-makers are in denial'

(Newser) - You know that recovery officials promise is underway? It's not happening, scoffs Paul Krugman, and he blames federal officials' reluctance to take responsibility. "This isn’t a recovery, in any sense that matters. And policy-makers should be doing everything they can to change that fact," he writes in...

Two Very Different Outlooks on Our Economy
Two Very Different Outlooks
on Our Economy
opinion

Two Very Different Outlooks on Our Economy

One expert says be confident, another calls it a depression

(Newser) - How goes the economic recovery? Depends on what you read. These two views could hardly be further apart:
  • Cheer up! Enough with the "gloom and doom," writes Ross Devol of the Milken Institute. The economy is stronger than is widely acknowledged and can regain its past "dynamism"
...

Stories 161 - 180 | << Prev   Next >>