Why Americans Can’t Lose Weight
ThinkstockBy most measures, close to a third of Americans are overweight if the scientific BMI measurement is used. Some smaller portion are “morbidly obese”, at the far end of the yardstick of those who…
Economy
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Newest first · Page 314S & P Raises Outlook On Spain–The Details
ThinkstockSpain, one of the most badly damaged economies in Europe got a break as S&P raised its outlook on the nation’s sovereign paper to “stable” from “negative. The debt will keep its ‘BBB-/A-3’ grade. Spain…
Consumer Sentiment Shows Signs of Life in Time for Black Friday
ThinkstockFollowing the better news earlier Wednesday morning from the U.S. Labor Department on new claims for unemployment benefits, the latest reading on consumer sentiment from the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan survey adds a little…
New Jobless Claims, Durable Goods Orders Both Lower
Ed Brown, via Wikimedia CommonsA veritable blizzard of economic data is set for release Wednesday, just in time to give everyone something to chew over before the Thanksgiving holiday. First out are the advance…
Merrill Lynch Issues 2014 Economic Outlook: Calmer Seas Ahead
ThinkstockIt is that time of the year again when Wall Street starts issuing its forecasts for the coming year. We have seen the 2014 outlook from Merrill Lynch this Monday with new observations on…
Life Expectancy in U.S. Rising Slower Than Elsewhere — OECD
ThinkstockAmericans do not age well, at least according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. In its “Health at a Glance 2013,” OECD experts report: life expectancy in the United States stood at 78.7…
FOMC Minutes Signal Tapering, More Than Recent Commentary
ThinkstockThe latest Minutes from the Federal Reserve’s October 29 to 30 FOMC meeting are indicating that tapering the $85 billion per month of bond buying could start in the coming months. This sounds significant in…
Inflation Running Too Low, QE to Continue
ThinkstockThe U.S. Labor Department released its reading on inflation on Wednesday morning via the Consumer Price Index. Simply put, inflation is running too low and this is going to give Ben Bernanke and Janet…
OECD Economic Outlook Cautious — the Press Release
ThinkstockHardly encouraging: The global economy is expected to continue expanding at a moderate pace over the coming two years, but policymakers must ensure that instability in financial markets and underlying fragility in some major…
World Economic Forum Lists 10 Trends That Will Define Global Agenda
ThinkstockThe World Economic Forum’s (WEF’s) “Outlook for the Global Agenda 2014” is based on the opinions of 1,592 important people from 112 nations around the globe. Leaving aside whether that sample number is too small…
Holiday Spending to Dive: Gallup
ThinkstockLast year consumers spent an average of $786 on holiday gifts, but if the latest poll from Gallup is correct they’ll be sitting on the wallets this year. Americans say they plan to spend…
Treasury Budget Deficit Shrinks in October, Now Only Very Unacceptable
The deficit is shrinking! Politicians will likely try to spin this as good news, because it sounds better than calling it less-bad. It is not good news when you see just how much money we are talking…
Economic Confidence Continues Slow Comeback: Gallup
ThinkstockThe collapse in Americans’ confidence in the economy brought on by the shutdown of the federal government is slowly rising again. The Gallup economic confidence index plunged to -39 in the week ending October…
Small Business Optimism Sinks in October
ThinkstockThe National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Tuesday morning reported that its small business optimism index for October dropped 2.3 points to come in at 91.6. As recently as last May the index reached…
The Philippines Economy by the Numbers
By International Monetary Fund , via Wikimedia CommonsA massive typhoon has battered the Philippines. That will set back what has been a promising economy for years and make the nation’s troubling unemployment and poverty rates much…