fiscal stimulus

Discussing his new economic stimulus program in Ohio, President Barack Obama regained his political swagger and ramped up his criticism of Republican leaders for failing to provide substantive policies that can help the nation's economic recovery regain momentum.

The annual U.S. budget deficit is well over a trillion dollars, and in the long term, that's unsustainable. But a closer look at the sources of most of that gap shows that balancing the budget wouldn't be nearly as hard as it might at first appear.

The U.S. construction industry went from bad to worse in July, and then retroactively worse still. The Commerce Department announced Wednesday that spending in the sector fell a worse-than-expected 1% in July, and revised June's estimate downward from a 0.1% increase to an 0.8% decline.

In a new survey, economists say the U.S. government should focus on promoting economic growth rather than reducing the deficit in the near term. However, 75% of them oppose another stimulus package.

As he addresses the nation%u2019s weak economy, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke doesn%u2019t just face the traditional risks of rising inflation or an economic stall, but a polarized, caustic political climate that will make creative solutions even harder to propose, let alone implement.

Shoveling trillions of dollars into banks hasn't boosted either spending or lending. What if the federal government stopped trying to revive the economy by encouraging borrowing -- and instead dropped money straight into your bank account?

Boosted by fiscal stimulus, construction spending rose 0.1% in June, the Commerce Department said. But spending for May was revised downward.

The U.S. budget deficit fell to $68.4 billion in June, a 27.3% decline from a year ago. The decline, mostly due to higher corporate tax revenue, suggests the economic recovery may not be slowing as much as feared.

A year ago, MarketWatch economist Irwin Kellner proposed an unconventional idea to jump-start the U.S. economy, and it was scoffed at and largely ignored by Washington and Wall Street. Too bad, because if it was used, perhaps the U.S. unemployment rate would be half what it is today.

New York Times (NYT) columnist Paul Krugman (pictured), an economist by training, an Ivy League academic by profession, and no stranger to bold proposals, has offered another big idea, recommending that the U.S. Federal Reserve double its already record-high balance sheet. Krugman wants the Fed...