All Economy
- Congress is back, and more combative than everThe least popular Congress in recent memory is back for another year of squabbling over tax policy. Will lawmakers finally reach an agreement over last year's unfinished business?
- Retirement dilemma: Old account. Moving overseas. Should we close it?Retirement plan can be kept open, even though it's getting no new contributions, until your retirement. Question No. 2 in the reader's mailbag.
- China reports solid economic growth. Should we believe it?China announced that GDP growth in the last quarter of 2011 was 8.9 percent, which suggests China will have a soft landing as its economy cools. But what's behind the numbers?
- Romney's tax rate: Good gossip, great lessonRomney's 15 percent tax rate underscores the fact that even the preferential rate on capital gains and dividend income, is a big tax expenditure–a big way we “spend” money via the tax code.
- Jerry Yang leaves Yahoo in surprise departureJerry Yang is severing all formal ties with Yahoo by resigning all positions including his seat on the board of directors.
- Why Obama doesn't get enough creditWhy hasn’t the president gotten more credit for what history may ultimately judge as a record of remarkable accomplishments?
- S&P downgrades the Eurozone bailout fundThe beleaguered nations of Europe created a program called EFSF (European Financial Stability Facility) to help sovereign debt issuers and Euro Zone banks cope with the ratings agency cuts to their debt ratings and rising interest rates. But yesterday, the S&P downgraded the EFSF itself.
- Good news in Europe, China lifts stocksSlight improvements in Europe's troubled debt markets and China's economy lifted stocks Tuesday. The Dow rose 60 points to close at 12482
- Making a major purchase? Consider last year's model.Stores often carry merchandise manufactured the year before. It's usually an identical product at a much lower price, but you might have to look a little harder for it.
- Manufacturing perks upThe Empire State Manufacturing Survey shows a notable improvement in manufacturing activity
- Strategic foreclosure: Why people are ditching their mortgagesMore and more, indebted homeowners are deciding to walk away from their mortgages, instead of facing forced foreclosure. Who will pay the discarded debt?
- Occupy Wall Street? No, divest from it.A growing bank divestment movement is pushing universities to move their money from big banks to small local financial institutions. So far, bank divestment successes are few and far between.
- Romney can take risks. He's rich.Mitt Romney is casting his campaign as a defense of free enterprise, hard work, and risk-taking. Easy for him to say: the higher you go on the economic ladder, the easier it is to make money without taking any personal financial risk at all. The lower you go, the bigger the risks.
- Zappos hacked: 24 million accounts at riskZappos says hackers potentially gathered names, e-mail and physical addresses, phone numbers, and last four digits of credit cards. But full credit card numbers not exposed, Zappos says.
- What does it mean when Romney says, 'I understand the economy'?In today’s America, the president needs to understand the economy measured by middle-class incomes, paychecks, the quantity and quality of jobs, rates of poverty, and income gaps. Romney understand the economy of Wall St., not Main St.
- Economy: Why the 'good' news isn'tGlobal financial news has been good ever since the Fed decided to print more money. But consumers still aren't spending, and the new employment figures are hardly signs of real recovery
- Bruce Springsteen, OccupierThe Boss has a new album coming out that's heavily focused on economic justice
- Can an economy still grow with serious debt?A country's budget surplus and economic growth generally go hand in hand, but there are some exceptions to the rule.
- Gas prices will drop, Nigerian president saysGas prices in Nigeria will drop to $2.75 per gallon following a nationwide strike over rising gas prices.
- A reliable purchase is a smart purchaseFrom washing machines to televisions, from kitchen knives to media players, reliability is an incredibly valuable feature