When in search of offbeat thinking on the economy, look no further than Alan Greenspan.
In a pow wow at the Aspen Ideas Festival on the country’s nettlesome debt problem, Greenspan said the debt ceiling, as a concept, should be canned.
Forget Greece. The biggest question mark in the never-ending eurozone debacle is now Italy.
European markets have been getting slammed over fears that Italy may be the next domino to fall. But why is Italy — whose debt problems have until now been on the back-burner — suddenly feeling the heat? First, eurozone finance ministers have …
Higher unemployment isn’t the only thing putting the American dream at risk.
Americans live by the idea that each generation can do better than the last and that, for those who have a job, working hard leads to more success. But that’s not panning out, according to a new paper by the Brookings Institution. Since 1975, two-parent …
Back when the financial crisis hit, there were few things more irritating to Americans than seeing huge bonuses go to the top dogs at big corporations. Two years later, and apparently nobody cares.
98.5% of companies that put their executive pay plans up for a vote by shareholders have received a resounding ‘a-ok’, the Wall Street …
Everyone knows that when Americans buy stuff, the economy does better. But just how much better off does our economy get when we indulge in growth-driving consumer spending on American products? And how does that compare to what our buying does for other countries?
A new study by The Journal of International Commerce and Economics …
Eurozone shmurozone. Tired of the constant stream of bad news coming out of Europe? You’re not the only one. Even the investing gurus are starting to yawn at the apocalyptic headlines about debt-riddled Portugal and Greece. If the global economy were going to blow because of the debt problems boiling over in Greece, shouldn’t it have …
Forget gold futures. For many economists, small business lending is the safest gauge of the economic recovery’s strength. Too bad it’s headed in the wrong direction.
As another giddy corporate earnings season approaches, it’s worth keeping this in mind: Since World War II, there’s never been a worse recovery for jobs and worker pay. And never a better one for corporate profits.
Those are the findings of a new study out from Northeastern University, which looks at where U.S. national growth has …
Rich country, rising unemployment, sluggish growth, big debts. Sound familiar? Japan’s notorious “lost decade,” the long stretch of economic stagnation that followed its massive property bubble in the late 1980s, looms large in the American mindset today. A lot of people think we may be headed down the same path.
The parallels between …
There’s a lot of finger wagging going on in the world about America’s profligate ways. And a lot of comparisons between the budget troubles of the U.S. and the horrors facing Greece. The West, the story goes, stupidly spent beyond its means while emerging markets wisely saved their pennies for rainy days like these. But the West isn’t …
The chummy pow wow between Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Germany this week seemed like all peas and gravy. Fourteen economic deals? Great. Twenty-two cooperation agreements? Even better. Any business is good business in a fragile global economy, right? Not so much. Growing ties between …
Should the U.S. sell off its gold reserves to pay down debt? That’s the latest idea being tossed around by gold bug Ron Paul. Not only would selling Old Yeller help the U.S. pay its bills, says libertarian Paul, but it would put more gold in the hands of the American people and pull back the reins on the Federal Reserve, which is …
