ThinkstockIs the American Dream dead? The vast majority of Americans born into poverty are unable to make much more than their parents. According to data released earlier this week from a study spanning three…
ThinkstockHunger problems are part of the regular study of organizations like the U.N. and The World Bank. The causes are usually put at the feet of poor farming practices, lack of seed, drought and…
ThinkstockMarket prices in China soared as the Hang Seng rose 2.3% to 21,915, and H shares were up 3.9% to 9,780. Perhaps the markets sense the slow growth will yield actions by the central…
ThinkstockThe Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago has released its Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) for the month of June. Economic activity is showing a slight improvement on the national scale, but it is…
ThinkstockAdd another ominous sign to the current and probably near-term future of the U.S. economy. A string of data about the level of confidence among companies in the private sector, which appeared strong from the early part…
The Joint G20 Finance and Labour Ministers’ Meeting gathered in Russia recently. The most important statement by the group indicated that first among the priorities of the G20 is new stimulus programs aimed at taming…
ThinkstockOn Thursday, the city of Detroit filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection. The total value of the city’s outstanding obligations are estimated at more than $18 billion. This makes the filing easily the largest…
ThinkstockThe Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has crafted a proposal to develop new rules over the next two years that would put an end to many of the tax avoidance gambits used…
ThinkstockRetail spending is often used as a barometer of the general economy. If consumer spending is two-thirds of gross domestic product (GDP), retail spending is one of its primary engines. And the news about…
ThinkstockWith an improving economy, an unexpected but welcome increase in tax revenue and federal spending down, largely because of budget battles, the U.S. financial situation has improved, not by design so much as by…
ThinkstockFollowing last month’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, the euro-U.S. dollar exchange rate (EURUSD) fell to just over 80. Less than a month later the EURUSD came within a few ticks of 85, and…
Ed Brown, via Wikimedia CommonsWeekly jobless claims data have been released by the U.S. Labor Department. Last week was a very big surprise as the preliminary figure rose to 360,000 when it was expected…
ThinkstockThe austerity versus stimulus battle flamed up again as the Greek parliament approved massive layoffs of public workers. Now, the proponents of cost cuts in financially weakened nations will get up-close evidence about whether…
ThinkstockThe U.S. economy continued to increase at a “modest to moderate pace” according to today’s release of the Federal Reserve’s latest Beige Book. Employment, one of the key drivers of the Fed’s monetary policy…
courtesy U.S. Federal ReserveFederal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is testifying in his semiannual report to the Congress on Wednesday. The stock, bond, commodity and currency markets are trying to find anything new or any…