Steve Jobs’ decision to step down as head of the Apple empire caused a lot of commotion. Analysts scurried to quantify the impact of Jobs’ departure on Apple’s stock price, the psychological effect on the stock market, and which tech competitors stand to gain. But the bigger question, and perhaps the most important, is what [...]
Subprime mortgage borrowers, it appears, are more creditworthy than Uncle Sam. Standard & Poor’s, the ratings agency that recently downgraded the credit of the United States, is giving a higher rating to a group of subprime mortgage loans – yup, just like the type that lead to the financial crisis – than the bonds issued [...]
Only a bit more than a month ago, the leaders of the euro zone were happily congratulating themselves on overcoming their differences and cobbling together a second bailout of troubled Greece. The package, which includes 109 billion euros ($157 billion) in fresh loans from an EU/IMF bailout fund, was supposed to rebuild investor confidence in [...]
For the third time in three months, housing prices are up. Don’t expect that to continue. According to the latest numbers from the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price index, which was released on Tuesday morning, house prices in 20 large metro areas around the country rose an average of 1.1% in June. Chicago had the [...]
Those of us old enough to remember the 1980s – and I unfortunately include myself in that category – will probably recall how terrified Americans became about Japan “buying up” the U.S. The fears were sparked by Japanese purchases of American real estate, most notably famed Rockefeller Center in New York City, and other assets, [...]
At this point, most economists agree that the best way to save the economic recovery is to get moving on jobs. The question is how to do that. After months of dithering, it looks like we may be getting an answer from a down-trodden President Obama. His administration is coming out with a jobs plan [...]
The message out of Ben Bernanke’s Jackson Hole speech: Nothing to see here. Time to move on. The markets had been clamoring for another round of quantitative easing to give stocks a lift. But Fed chair Bernanke didn’t discuss it, or any of the other blunt tools the central bank has on offer. The Fed [...]
There is an unusual political battle going on in South Korea right now, over, believe it or not, school lunches. The Seoul city council voted to implement a large-scale program to feed every primary and middle school student in the capital – all 850,000 of them – a free lunch every day, at a cost [...]
Texas has created almost as many jobs during Rick Perry’s career as governor as the rest of the country has lost. So what’s the secret behind the “Texas Miracle”? Rising GOP presidential candidate Perry says it’s about putting job creation in the private sector’s hands. “We know dollars do far more to create jobs and [...]
The economic recovery is in a bad way. To get it back on track, the housing market will need revival. And yet, three years after the economic crisis (and after bailouts, multiple rounds of stimulus, and much toiling over the national debt) housing numbers are getting worse. That saps consumer demand and drags down economic [...]
