Articles About Economics

Whoops!  Someone has a red face.  France’s credit ratings have not been downgraded by Standard & Poor’s (S&P) and apparently resulted from an accidental transmission of a message that it had downgraded the nation’s credit. S&P’s error roiled global equity, bond, currency and commodity markets when it sent and then corrected the erroneous message. “As […]

Black Friday – the day after Thanksgiving notable for its power shopping – just got longer as several leading national retailers announced plans to open at midnight. Instead of sleeping off that turkey coma, throngs of shoppers will be waiting in line at Macy’s and Target, both of which will open four hours earlier than […]

Standard & Poor’s slashed Spain’s credit rating to AA-, three steps beneath the highly desirable AAA, underscoring the challenges facing Europe’s major powers as they meet G20 counterparts over the eurozone debt crisis.  S&P, whose move mirrored that by fellow ratings agency Fitch, cited high unemployment, tightening credit and high private-sector debt.  Spanish 10-year government […]

Pennsylvania’s capital city, Harrisburg,  filed for a rare Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection, listing debts of $500 million and assets of $100 million, according to an attorney for the city council.  Mark D. Schwartz said he filed the documents by fax to a federal bankruptcy court.  Such a filing could not be confirmed with the U.S. […]

Recent college graduates can expect to earn 10 percent less than they did as long ago as 2000.  In fact, one of the longest-lasting legacies of the great recession may be its negative impact on the lifetime careers of young graduates.  The current high unemployment rate will leave many of them a step behind throughout […]

Are Americans shopping until they drop again? It could be, judging by the latest government report showing that consumer spending rose by a surprisingly vigorous 0.6 percent in September, even as personal incomes barely grew.  Adjusting for inflation, after-tax income declined slightly by 0.1 percent, according to the Department of Commerce.  The bottom line is […]

The midnight oil burned in Brussels as European finance ministers, heads of state, bankers and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) try to reach an agreement to restructure Greek debt.  In the deal, private banks and insurers would accept 50 percent losses on their Greek debt holdings in the latest bid to reduce Athens’ immense debt […]

President Barack Obama executed an end run around Congress when he announced a significant retooling of a plan designed to help homeowners who are paying their mortgages, but still underwater, refinance their loans at a more affordable interest rate.  Administration officials said the changes will streamline the government’s Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) and could […]

The renewable energy industry is facing serious challenges from competition subsidized by foreign governments and restrictive regulations on the home front.  This was the consensus at the recent Solar Exchange East 2011, attended by academics, solar entrepreneurs, engineers, investors, supporters and government officials at the McKimmon Center at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. Larry […]

Federal officials and some of the nation’s largest banks are collaborating on a plan that would make refinancing available to some borrowers whose houses are worth less than their loans, with the caveat that they must be up-to-date on mortgage payments.  Typically, these borrowers can’t refinance because they don’t have enough equity in their homes. […]