Economy

Amid Criticism, Switzerland Overtakes US as Most Competitive Economy

Switzerland overtook the United States as the most competitive economy in the world, according to the global competitiveness index released this week by...

Alex Newman September 10, 2009

Effect of Government Takeover of Home Mortgage Market

Thomas R. Eddlem September 8, 2009

The Washington Post reported September 7 that the federal government is now guaranteeing 86 percent of all new home mortgages, as default...

Unemployment Continues to Climb

Thomas R. Eddlem September 4, 2009

The U.S. Labor Department reported unemployment rose to 9.7 percent during the month of August from 9.4 percent, the highest unemployment rate in...

FCC to Investigate Wireless Industry

Steven J. DuBord August 31, 2009

The Federal Communications Commission is launching an investigation of the nation’s wireless industry to root out any anti-competitive practices and to decide what...

Fed Official Admits 16% Unemployment

Alex Newman August 31, 2009

The real number of unemployed in the United States is far more than the federal government’s official count and the recovery could be...

Cash-for-clunkers Sputters to a Close

Steven J. DuBord August 25, 2009

Like one of the old jalopies it is supposed to remove from the road, the $3-billion cash-for-clunkers program sputtered to a close on...

Stimulus Grants for Batteries and Green Cars

Alex Newman August 11, 2009

Last week, the Obama administration revealed the 48 recipients of $2.4 billion in federal grant money supposedly designed to stimulate domestic production of...

More Unemployed, Yet Unemployment Rate Drops

Thomas R. Eddlem August 7, 2009

Unemployment numbers ticked upward during July at a much slower pace than past months, leading many establishment forecasters to conclude that an economic...

Economy Shrinks Q2, Recession Worse Than Thought

Thomas R. Eddlem July 31, 2009

Though data shows that the U.S. economy only shrank at a one-percent annual rate during the second quarter of the 2009 calendar year,...

First-time Unemployment Claims Up

Thomas R. Eddlem July 31, 2009

First-time unemployment claims continue to increase at a faster pace than expected. “The Labor Department said the number of claims in the week...

Another Minimum Wage Hike: But Will It Help?

Selwyn Duke July 25, 2009

In another example of turning lemonade into lemons in economically troubled times, the federal minimum wage increased yesterday from $6.55 an hour to...

Media Raising Concerns Over Goldman Sachs’ Gov’t Influence

Thomas R. Eddlem July 21, 2009

Even the mass media is starting to take notice of the longtime cozy relationship that both the U.S. Treasury Department and the Federal...

CIT Patches Together Private Bailout After TARP Bailout

Thomas R. Eddlem July 21, 2009

Capital lending firm-turned-bank holding company CIT has patched together another $3 billion private loan to avoid bankruptcy and try to complete the transition...