All Economy
Economy's real problem? The spenders can't spend.The recovery has been slow, but not because of Europe's debt crisis, Wall Street, or high taxes. American consumers, whose spending is 70 percent of economic activity, don鈥檛 have the money to buy enough to boost the economy.
Wall Street's high-stakes love affair with Europe continuesGoldman Sachs, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley among the Wall Street giants that have continued to buy up bonds in debt-laden Italy and France. Hopefully these risky moves pay off. Because Wall Street never makes bad decisions.
Encouraged by the Fed's positive comments, stocks rise sharplyErasing a big decline from the day before, the Dow Jones increased by 162 points to close at 12,573, as every major category to stock in the market closed higher. The president of the Fed's Chicago bank said he supports super-low interest rates, encouraging investors.
Dutch bank pays steep price for ignoring US sanctions on Iran and CubaDutch bank ING has agreed to pay a record $619 million fine after admitting that it moved money from Iran and Cuba through US banks despite sanctions forbidding the practice.聽
The great tax debate: Dueling Congressional tax proposals clashWhile optimists may hang on to the small morsels of agreement between Senator Baucus and Representative Camp's tax reform proposals, in general the dueling plans are opposites, making bipartisan cooperation on the issue seem unlikely.
The ExplainerD.C. Decoder 101: How Washington spends your moneyThere's a lot of talk about cutting the US deficit but very little actual cutting of deficit. One reason? There's not much easy to cut. Decoder explains the six ways Washington spends money.聽- New push for Starbucks: U.S. productsA new line of Starbucks U.S. products will raise money for the Create Jobs for USA fund.
Sticker price confusion: Why do GMC trucks cost more than Chevy?Astute truck shoppers may have noticed a baffling recent trend: why are two essentially identical models priced differently by brand? It's a complicated issue that has a lot to do with marketing, but the average consumer's safest bet is to just go with the best price.
Wanted: Frugal new friends, for potlucks, disc golfMoving to a new city can be tough, and finding new frugal friends in that city can seem daunting. Our personal finance guru offers encouraging words of advice: be social, be confident and have the courage to say hello and introduce yourself. What have you got to lose?
Housing prices head higher as selling season heats upNew data for April housing market shows prices declined by 1.17 percent, year-over-year from last April, but are now headed higher as is typical of the more active spring-to-summer selling climate.
There's something about ItalyIf this big Euro experiment is going to succeed, it is important that things in Italy stay fairly stable. The good news is, the country's banks are in relatively good shape and its leader appears competent. The bad news? A massive sovereign debt load.
Affordable Care Act ruling is sticky for ObamaAffordable Care Act decision from the Supreme Court may be handed down soon. If the Affordable Care Act is ruled unconstitutional, Obama's key legislative achievement will be for naught, and his reelection chances may be compromised.
Glenn Beck inks $100 million radio dealGlenn Beck has signed a five-year, $100 million syndication contract, extending his popular conservative talk radio program. Glenn Beck left television last year amid dwindling ratings, but his radio show is the third most popular in the US, airing on 400 stations and maintaining a robust, growing following.- How skewed is America's income inequality? Take our quiz.
Income inequality has become a central issue in the presidential election, with President Obama declaring it 鈥渢he defining issue of our time,鈥� Mitt Romney decrying 鈥渢he ,鈥� and Romney鈥檚 former Bain partner (and current campaign contributor) Edward Conard , that income inequality is something America needs more of. To evaluate what the candidates say in the coming months, you鈥檒l need a working knowledge of the topic. How well do you know American inequality? Take this quiz based on my new book, :
The new elevator pitch: Now in five slides or lessMaking that initial pitch to potential investors is an essential, and often terrifying step in the start-up process. Conventional wisdom encouraged a pitch of ten Powerpoint slides, but a new trend is pushing consolidation and concision, limiting entrepreneurs to just five slides.
Oil prices hit eight-month low in AsiaOil prices near $81 a barrel in Singapore trading. London also sees oil prices fall as worries rise about the adequacy of Spain's bank bailout.
He's a fan: One man's defense of Ron PaulA staunch libertarian, presidential candidate Ron Paul has always had interesting ideas about how best to run the American economy. From Austrian economics to the gold standard and free market money, a new book outlines and defends Paul's plans.
Too good to last: Relief over Spain bank rescue fades quicklyThe news of a bailout of Spanish banks caused a brief burst of optimism to penetrate the gloom of Wall Street Monday. But within hours stocks had fallen again, with the Dow closing down 142 points at 12,411, another large decline.
Zombie apocalypse? Economic zombies thrive off of state spendingFunded by cheap credit and government spending, Bonner foresees an impending war ahead between the zombies 鈥� people who take money from the productive sector of the economy and transfer it to themselves 鈥� and the productive parts of the economy.
Euro rally fades after Spain bank rescueOver the weekend, European countries agreed to lend up to $125 billion to聽Spain聽to help its crippled financial industry. Traders are concerned that it's only a temporary fix for the European debt crisis.