debt crisis

Last month, Harrisburg, Pa., tried to throw in the financial towel and declare Chapter 9, but a judge threw out the bankruptcy petition. That doesn't mean the city is magically healthy again, though, and it's not the only municipality in similar straits. Here's why it matters to the rest of the country.

It's true that the U.S. has racked up the largest debt of any developed country. But when you consider the debt in relation to the country's gross domestic product, it's only No. 7 on the list, according to Fortune. Here's what you need to know to make sense of all the numbers.

It you're feeling sick to your stomach, you're not alone. The stock-market roller coaster of the last couple of weeks -- culminating with Thursday's 500-point plunge on the Dow -- has been enough to make even the most stoic investors sweat. But here's how you can turn uncertainty into opportunity.

The debt-ceiling discussions may be over, but the fallout for states is just starting. Many states, still struggling to recover to pre-recession levels, have depended on federal money to make up their shortfalls. As the flow of money slows, which states will take the biggest hits?

Debt and government spending are firmly at the top of the new Congress's agenda. And just the threat that the U.S. wouldn't pay its bills has traders worried and wondering if the U.S. could end up on the same chaotic economic path taken by Greece or Spain.

The Bank of England said Thursday that it decided to keep its emergency stimulus program unchanged and the central bank's key lending rate at its record low of 0.5%.

For a host of reasons, when the dollar spikes, stocks drop, and when the dollar falls, stocks soar. Right now, with dollar sentiment reaching maximum bearishness, contrarians are preparing for the next shift. If the dollar rises again, stocks could reverse.

Greece raised 1.25 billion euro ($1.57 billion) of bonds, its first debt auction since taking international bailout loans. The sale of 26-week treasury bills was oversubscribed 3.64 times, the Associated Press reported. The yield on the bonds was 4.65%. Greece narrowly avoided default on May...

Investors are increasingly concerned that Europe's banking and debt crisis could spell trouble for the U.S. economy. Major reform in the eurozone may be the only way to forestall the gathering storm.

The bond vigilantes have made their presence known in Greece, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Ireland, forcing up their borrowing costs and making slash budgets. The U.S. needs to act now to ensure it's not next.