Minutes: Fed Divided Over When to End Stimulus
Federal Reserve policymakers are divided over when to end extraordinary measures intended to encourage more borrowing and spending to help stimulate the U.S. economy.
stimulus
Dirty Money: Consumers Spend Crumpled Bills Faster, Study Finds
A study by Canadian marketing professors finds that people are more quick to spend the crumpled, dirty bills in their wallet -- unless there are other people watching.
Fewer U.S. Taxpayers Expecting Refunds This Year
Fewer Americans are expecting the financial boost of a tax refund this year, an American Express survey shows.
Saving America's School Buildings: It Will Cost Half a Trillion Bucks
It would cost $270 billion just to get school buildings back to their original shape. Getting them up to date would cost twice as much.
Point: It's a Bad Time to Let Social Security Taxes Rise, Mr. President
Millions of workers are hoping President Obama acts to extend the temporary reduction in Social Security payroll taxes that he enacted two years ago. That's sure to draw criticism, but it has to be done. Dan Caplinger of The Motley Fool explains why.
World Markets Rally on Fed Vow to Do More
World stock markets rallied Friday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke signaled that the central bank would do more to stimulate the U.S. economy.
Federal Budgets Cuts Now Could Stall the Recovery
Goldman Sachs drew some undeserved ire when it recently pointed to proposed cuts in federal spending as a key near-term risk. While the proposed cuts are modest, they could still undermine the rebound at a critical time.
Obama's 2012 Budget: Why Federal Spending Needs to Be Raised, Not Cut
President Obama's proposed spending plan seeks to slash $1.1 trillion from the deficit over the next decade. Republican House Speaker John Boehner says that's too little. In this case, both Obama and Boehner are wrong. The nation doesn't need to spend less. It needs to spend more -- a lot more.
In Construction, a Year of Flat Growth Would Be Welcome
Want to see how the construction industry will do in 2011? Look at how architects did in 2010. By that gauge, last year's thin uptick in building design and engineering services foretells a similar small gain ahead for builders -- after two years of steep declines.
The Hidden Cost of Big Wall Street Bonuses to Society
Though most Americans wish that Congress would rein in excessive pay on Wall Street, that won't happen while the huge campaign contributions keep flowing. And the financial industry's big money shell game drains away something more precious from our society than money -- it siphons off talent.
What Will Obama's Tax
Deal Do for Investors?
The biggest question many investors have about President Obama's compromise tax cut deal is how it will benefit the economy. But so far, there is little agreement on Wall Street about what the stimulative effects of the deal will be.
How Many Jobs Will Obama-GOP Tax Cut Deal Create?
The tax cut compromise between Obama and the GOP is now being touted as a back-door stimulus plan, one that some economists predict will create or save 3.1 million jobs. Unfortunately, the model on which those forecasts are based makes some flawed assumptions.
GM IPO Brings In $11.7 Billion for the U.S. Treasury
The initial public offering of General Motors last week netted $11.7 billion for the U.S. Treasury, which invested taxpayer money into keeping the then-struggling automaker solvent during the financial crisis as part of its Troubled Asset Relief Program.
QE2, Day One: Fed Buys $7.3 Billion in Treasuries
The Federal Reserve bought $7.3 billion worth of U.S. Treasuries Friday as it started a second round of quantitative easing meant to stimulate the nation's economy, media reports indicate. The QE2 plan, designed to boost job creation and prevent deflation, has been highly criticized.
Daily Blogwatch: Is Google a Monopoly?
Some of the best reads for investors from around the Web, including posts evaluating how consumers spend their money, whether Google could be considered a monopoly and the debate about the Fed's policy on quantitative easing.