economy

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Stronger Economy Just Might Kill You
Stronger Economy
Just Might Kill You
study says
Oct 8, 2013 8:50 AM CDT

Stronger Economy Just Might Kill You

Study finds higher deaths in boom times among middle aged, elderly

(Newser) - A booming economy would seem to be good news all around, but a new study finds a strange thing: More middle-aged people and seniors tend to die in a strong economy than in a weak one, reports Medical News Today . Specifically, Netherlands researchers found that death rates in developed countries...

Record Numbers Call Themselves 'Lower Class'

Wealth gap may help explain phenomenon

(Newser) - For four decades, pollsters have been asking Americans to identify themselves by class; typically, most call themselves middle- or working-class. In the latest edition of the survey, however, a record 8.4% have dubbed themselves lower-class, the Los Angeles Times reports. That's a change from previous economic downturns, when...

GDP Rises 1.7%; Why That&#39;s Horrible
 GDP Rises 1.7%; 
 Why That's Horrible 
OPINION
Jul 31, 2013 11:15 AM CDT

GDP Rises 1.7%; Why That's Horrible

Neil Irwin thinks we need to do better in this economy

(Newser) - The US economy grew 1.7% last quarter, the Commerce Department announced today , which is a lot better than the 1% analysts expected. "It is what markets and the journalists who write about them like to call a 'huge beat,'" writes Neil Irwin at the Washington ...

Obama: In My Last 1,276 Days, Economy Is No. 1

President puts attention back on money matters, ahead of budget battles

(Newser) - President Obama gave the first of a series of speeches today intended to refocus attention on the economy, reports CNN . "America has fought its way back," he declared, but "we're not there yet." He hit familiar themes in his speech at Knox College in Illinois,...

Wealth Isn&#39;t Helping the US Anymore

 Wealth Isn't Helping 
 the US Anymore 
OPINION
Jun 17, 2013 12:57 PM CDT

Wealth Isn't Helping the US Anymore

Robert Samuelson believes the recession killed the wealth effect

(Newser) - Normally, when Americans' net worth goes up—say, because the value of their house or their stocks goes up—they spend more money, stimulating the economy. Economists call it the "wealth effect," and it might just have suffered an untimely death as a concept, observes Robert Samuelson at...

Bernanke to Congress: Stop Screwing the Economy

Says he's not taking his foot off the gas with monetary policy

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve isn't planning to take its foot off the gas pedal anytime remotely soon, Ben Bernanke told Congress today, while rebuking legislators for not doing their own part to juice the economy. The Fed's interest rate has been near zero since 2008, and Bernanke said he...

Student Debtors Steering Clear of Auto, Home Loans

New Federal Reserve Bank of New York study shows declining borrowing rates

(Newser) - The well-documented and much-fretted over explosion in student loan debt could be doing serious damage to the housing market and auto industries, as graduates strive to avoid going deeper into debt, according to an analysis posted on the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's blog . For the first time...

We Need Confidence, but We Get &#39;Dr. Doom&#39;
We Need Confidence, but
We Get 'Dr. Doom'
OPINION
Mar 8, 2013 12:02 PM CST

We Need Confidence, but We Get 'Dr. Doom'

Peggy Noonan thinks Obama is missing the jobs crisis, again

(Newser) - President Obama didn't recognize the scope of the jobs crisis in his first term, and he's making the same mistake in his second, writes Peggy Noonan in the Wall Street Journal . Instead of public-works projects, we got health care reform, and its costs are only making employers even...

China Tops US in Global Trade

Chinese end America's post-war trading dominance

(Newser) - Hello, empire? China announced that it has surpassed the US in at least one economic category, becoming the world's top trading nation in goods. China says that last year its combined imports and exports barely edged out America's, $3.87 trillion to $3.82 trillion, the Guardian reports....

Most Middle-Aged Americans Plan to Delay Retirement

It's a sharp increase from just a few years ago

(Newser) - The Wall Street Journal notes a telling statistic in a new study: Nearly two-thirds of Americans age 45 to 60 say they will have to delay retirement, a jump from 42% in only two years. The pessimism comes despite a rebounding stock market, rising home prices, and a general uptick...

Economy Shrinks for 1st Time Since 2009

Unexpected GDP drop comes as defense spending slumps

(Newser) - As "firsts" go, this is an unfortunate one: The US economy contracted in Q4, marking the first time it has done so since the recession ended. The AP reports that the biggest cut in defense spending in four decades, reduced exports, and sluggish growth in company stockpiles contributed to...

North Korea Plans to Open Its Economy: Report

Kim Jong Un's regime hires economists for 'radical' change

(Newser) - Investors haven't exactly been dying to throw their money at North Korea—but soon they may have a chance. A German newspaper reports that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is seeking "radical" economic change and wants to open the country to foreign investment, Der Spiegel reports. In...

Even a Short Plunge Off Fiscal Cliff Will Hurt
Even a Short Plunge Off Fiscal Cliff Will Hurt
OPINION
Nov 13, 2012 1:06 PM CST

Even a Short Plunge Off Fiscal Cliff Will Hurt

It's foolish to shrug off the dangers: Neil Irwin

(Newser) - It's widely accepted at this point that a protracted fall over the fiscal cliff will send the country plunging back into recession . But what if, as is far more likely, lawmakers blow the deadline by just a few weeks? Conventional wisdom suggests it wouldn't be so bad, that...

Obama: Wealthy Must Pay More in Taxes

But he wants to extend tax cuts for everyone else

(Newser) - President Obama laid out the broad outlines of his plan for a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff today, and he struck two familiar themes: He wants lawmakers to freeze tax rates for the middle class and below, but he thinks the Bush tax cuts should expire for the wealthiest...

CBO: Fiscal Cliff Will Bring 9.1% Unemployment

We need less cliff, more 'gradual slope,' suggests forecast

(Newser) - It's not so much a surprising conclusion as a reminder of what's at stake: The Congressional Budget Office warned today that a failure to head off the fiscal cliff at year's end will probably lead to a new recession next year along with a jump in the...

Economy No. 1 Concern for 60% of Voters

Americans generally split on ObamaCare

(Newser) - Not a huge surprise here: Initial results from the AP's exit poll show that six out of 10 voters feel the economy is the No. 1 issue facing the US today. That's basically unchanged from 2008, when 62% of voters said the same thing . Other preliminary findings :
  • Which
...

Home Depot Closes 7 Big-Box Stores in China
Home Depot Closing 7
Big-Box Stores in China
'do-it-for-me' culture
Sep 15, 2012 1:49 PM CDT

Home Depot Closing 7 Big-Box Stores in China

Other US companies have learned to adapt there

(Newser) - Home Depot has learned about Chinese culture the hard way. The home improvement chain is shuttering its seven big-box stores there because the Chinese—who live mostly in apartments and have access to cheap labor—aren't interested in "do-it-yourself" supplies, the Wall Street Journal reports. So Home Depot...

Poll: Romney Loses Advantage on Economy

Obama now viewed as better candidate to turn it around

(Newser) - President Obama's convention plea for patience with his economic plans might have resonated: Mitt Romney is no longer viewed as the better candidate to fix the economy and create jobs in a new poll by CBS and the New York Times . Obama's advantage couldn't be slimmer—47-46—...

Let&#39;s Grade Obama&#39;s First Term

 Let's Grade 
 Obama's 
 First Term 
Nicholas Kristof
Sep 6, 2012 12:35 PM CDT

Let's Grade Obama's First Term

Nicholas Kristof rates most of his policies a 'B', but an 'F' in explaining them

(Newser) - Democrats are currently busy praising President Obama to the heavens, while Republicans are heaping scorn upon him. Nicholas Kristof thinks both sides are being over the top, and in today's New York Times , he grades the president thusly:
  • The economy—B. When Obama took office, the US economy was
...

&#39;Are You Better Off?&#39; Well, It&#39;s Irrelevant
'Are You Better Off?'
Well, It's Irrelevant
Ezra Klein
Sep 5, 2012 12:27 PM CDT

'Are You Better Off?' Well, It's Irrelevant

Ezra Klein points out that the president's 'record' doesn't mean a ton

(Newser) - Mitt Romney has been feverishly reciting Ronald Regan's famous quote: "Are you better off than you were four years ago?" But that's a "dumb campaign question," Ezra Klein writes for Bloomberg , because "four years ago, George W. Bush was still president." Romney himself...

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