US economy

Stories 561 - 580 | << Prev   Next >>

A Tale of 2 (Rich) Candidates
A Tale of 2 (Rich) Candidates

A Tale of 2 (Rich) Candidates

Edwards, Romney draw different lessons from good fortune

(Newser) - John Edwards and Mitt Romney are both self-made millionaires who used their wealth to climb the political ladder, the New York Times reports. But Edwards is an old-school populist who chalks up the current 1920s-level income gap to Reaganesque policies eroding the middle class, while Romney thinks the key to...

World Bank Cuts China's Economy Down to Size

World Bank says the world's second-largest economy is poorer than thought

(Newser) - China's economy, predicted to become the world’s largest by 2012, actually is 40% smaller than previously estimated, the World Bank concludes, after updating the way it calculates GDP. Although China’s $5.33-trillion economy is still the second largest in the world behind the $12-trillion US, the new appraisal...

Ho-Hum Season Sees Drop in Women's Apparel Sales

With less money to spend on family, women pull back on purchasing for themselves

(Newser) - Women's spending on apparel for the first half of the Christmas season is down, alarming retailers and spawning broad worry in the industry. Experts blame a bleak economy and blah fashions for a slump of nearly 6% compared with a year ago, reports the New York Times. Men’s clothing...

Rich Getting Even Richer, Even Faster

Gap between super wealthy and rest of US grows even bigger

(Newser) - America’s economy is great, the New York Times says, if you’re already super rich. Between 2003 and 2005, America’s top 1% saw a meteoric 42.6% jump in income. The rest of us? Well, the middle fifth earned an extra 4.3%, and the bottom fifth just...

Greenspan: Odds Rising for Recession

Former Fed chief says US economy 'close to stall speed'

(Newser) - Alan Greenspan warned yesterday that sluggish economic growth is increasing the risk of recession. "It's too soon to say, but the odds are clearly rising," the former Fed chief told NPR. The subprime crisis and its resulting credit turmoil has growth "getting close to stall speed,"...

Nov. Retail Sales Up 1.2%; Sky May Not Be Falling

(Newser) - November’s retail sales confounded doomsayers, surging 1.2%, twice the 0.6% analysts predicted, Bloomberg reports. Many had worried that consumer spending would take a hit as gas rose and housing fell, but now it looks like job and income growth could cushion the fall. “The numbers should...

Morgan Stanley Warns of Recession
Morgan Stanley Warns of Recession

Morgan Stanley Warns of Recession

Housing slump, cost of borrowing could lead to 'perfect storm' in US economy

(Newser) - Morgan Stanley is warning that the US is headed to a recession, the Telegraph writes, indicating today that factors such as the continued housing slump and high cost of borrowing will lead to decreased demand and a “perfect storm” for consumers. A partial freeze on subprime mortgages and expected...

US Economic Woes to Slow Tech Spending

Researchers say the sector will continue to grow, but belts will be tightening

(Newser) - Tech-spending growth, on a roll since recovering from the 2000 dot-com bust beginning in 2004, is likely to slow next year, dragged down by US economic woes and rising oil prices, reports the Wall Street Journal. Research firms say companies are likely to keep spending, but more slowly. As one...

Economists See Rising Risk of Recession

Nearly all in survey say Fed must take strong action, cut rates

(Newser) - Economists are painting a bleak picture of the US economy next year, with the housing mess, reduced job growth, and rising unemployment putting the likelihood of recession at its highest level in three years, the Wall Street Journal reports. Nearly all the economists surveyed by the paper said the Fed...

Dems Pitch Own Mortgage Plans
Dems Pitch Own Mortgage Plans

Dems Pitch Own Mortgage Plans

They say Bush's freeze falls short

(Newser) - Democratic candidates are criticizing President Bush's plan to bail out homeowners in the subprime mess for not going far enough and have outlined their own, more ambitious, proposals, the New York Times reports. "It appears that the president is pushing a freeze for a very narrow group of borrowers,...

Americans Glummer on Economy
Americans Glummer on Economy

Americans Glummer on Economy

71% expect recession; oil, mortgages are concerns, survey finds

(Newser) - More than half of Americans think the economy is performing poorly, and 71% predict a recession within the year, a new Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll shows. Energy prices in particular are contributing to the grim outlook and cautious spending, Bloomberg reports. "I probably will spend less this year because...

Airbus, VW May Open US Plants
Airbus, VW
May Open
US Plants

Airbus, VW May Open US Plants

Weak dollar has European companies looking overseas

(Newser) - The dollar’s continued weakness against the euro has European companies such as Airbus and VW looking to move production to the US, reports Der Spiegel. “We don’t have a choice,” said the CEO of Aribus parent company EADS. If Airbus wins a contract to supply the...

In '08, It's Really the Economy, Stupid

Worried over job, credit, health woes, voters put Iraq on back burner

(Newser) - With gas prices stratospheric, the housing market tanking, and recession looking likely, voters aren't too worried about Iraq, reports the Wall Street Journal. Job concerns have transformed illegal immigration and health care into major issues. “You have to have a health plan even in the Republican primary,” says...

Hey, GOP: US Is Outraged Over Illegals
Hey, GOP:
US Is Outraged Over Illegals
OPINION

Hey, GOP: US Is Outraged Over Illegals

Moderates like McCain and Huckabee risk defeat, Time says

(Newser) - GOP hopefuls risk defeat if they underestimate US rage over illegals, Time's Joe Klein writes. Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani have successfully stoked public anger; Romney, who reportedly hired undocumented workers to tend his lawn, blasts illegals in his latest campaign ads. But Mike Huckabee takes a middle ground and...

Switching States Is On the Rise
Switching States Is
On the Rise

Switching States Is On the Rise

Immigrants, people in their 20s take the lead in mobility

(Newser) - Americans are moving from state to state at the highest rate since the early '90s, reports  USA Today. The trend stems from immigrants spreading out from the traditional gateway states in search of jobs and lower living costs, as well as a larger number of mobile twenty-somethings. In a 2006...

The 'R-Word' Surfaces on Wall Street
The 'R-Word' Surfaces on Wall Street

The 'R-Word' Surfaces on Wall Street

'Odds of a recession are pretty damn high,' says analyst

(Newser) - Wall Street has the recession jitters: Markets are down 10% since October, the S&P 500 is down as analysts predict depressed earnings, and T-bills are down on anticipated Fed rate cuts. But there’s a flip side: Holiday sales gained 8.3% over 2006, unemployment is at 4.7%,...

Even Fat Wallets Closing
Even Fat
Wallets Closing

Even Fat Wallets Closing

Nation's wealthiest aren't spending, signaling steep economic trouble

(Newser) - Wealthy consumers, the 20% of the population responsible for nearly 40% of consumer spending, are closing their wallets, indicating an even rougher economic road ahead, reports Bloomberg. “When they begin to capitulate, that’s when we all head down,” said one economist. Blame deflating real estate prices and...

Subprime Nightmare to Get Worse
Subprime Nightmare to Get Worse

Subprime Nightmare to Get Worse

With rates about to reset higher, expect more foreclosures

(Newser) - The subprime mortgage crisis is only just beginning, new data suggests. Hundreds of billions of dollars in subprime adjustable-rate mortgages are due to reset to higher rates in the year ahead, reports the Wall Street Journal. Analysts say this means the steep rise in defaults and foreclosures this year may...

Black Friday as Bargain Hunt
Black Friday as Bargain Hunt

Black Friday as Bargain Hunt

Thrifty shoppers crowd malls nationwide

(Newser) - On the traditional first day of the Christmas season, shoppers swarmed stores, as always, but the mood was less festive than anxious, reports the New York Times, as consumers flocked to discount chains, and hunted down bargains. Beset by worries about gas prices, adjustable-rate mortgages, and a skittish stock market,...

Greenspan Has 'No Particular Regrets'

Former FED chair calls housing crisis 'a global phenomenon'

(Newser) - The US housing market crisis is not the result of Federal Reserve policies but part of a global phenomenon, former Fed chair Alan Greenspan says. "I have no particular regrets," he said yesterday in Oslo. "The housing bubble is not a reflection of what we did, as...

Stories 561 - 580 | << Prev   Next >>
Most Read on Newser