ThinkstockAfter sliding in the rankings for four consecutive years, the United States moved up two places in the World Economic Forum’s competitiveness ranking, from seventh last year to fifth in 2013. A combination of…
Jon OggNew tech is supposed to replace old tech at an accelerating pace, analysts believe. The evolution from Web 1.0, which peaked with the tech bubble of the late 1990s, has been superseded by…
ThinkstockWhile inflation has been relatively tame in the United States and Europe, several large nations have struggled with rising prices. Sadly, most instances are simply stagflation, where prices are rising but the economic growth…
ThinkstockAs many as 40% of the homes sold in the U.S. in July were purchased in cash, up from 31% a year earlier, according to data published this week. Rising interest rates are partly…
Dwight Burdette, via Wikimedia CommonsWhile optimism about the economy fell slightly in August, consumer sentiment remained close to its six-year high. During the recession, Americans were reluctant to spend more than they had to.…
ThinkstockMore than two-thirds of 2011’s college graduates had student debt. Those students, according to the Project on Student Debt, had an average of more than $25,000 in back loans. To make matters worse for…
ThinkstockThe median household income in the United States has increased slightly over the past two years, but it is still down more than 6% from the start of the recession. As of June, a…
ThinkstockBecause of a major decline in jobs during the recession, the number of nonfarm workers is up just 5% over the past 10 years. While the past decade’s painful recession and the slow job…
ThinkstockOver the past 10 years, the number of nonfarm workers rose by just 5%. But despite past decade’s painful recession and the slow job growth that has followed, several occupations have more than doubled…
ThinkstockClose to a third of the adult U.S. population has a college degree. While it no longer necessarily guarantees a job, as it once did, graduating from college is a prerequisite for the vast…
courtesy Best Buy Co. Inc.Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO)Â and PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE: PEP)Â are the most respected brands in the United States. While Coke has enjoyed this status for six years straight, Pepsi moved up from…
courtesy of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.Walmart is the largest American employer, with a workforce of nearly 2.2 million people. However, because of its international reach, only 1.3 million of those were employed in the United…
As many as 3.7 million Americans are classified as preppers or survivalists. Being a “doomsday prepper” is not easy — or cheap. These people prepare for different disasters for different reasons. Most think that…
ThinkstockIn 2011, state governments collected more than $50 billion in taxes and proceeds from vice: gambling, smoking and alcohol consumption. Some argue that state governments should not profit from residents’ vices. However, some states…
Wikimedia Commons After three years of powerful economic expansion prior to 2008, the Great Recession caused the revenues of many American companies to plunge to multi-year lows. While sales at most big companies have…