EU Leaders Said to Delay Decision on 2030 Carbon Target … EU carbon prices rose as much as 3 percent to a 13-month high of 6.88 euros on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London today, buoyed by the commission's plan to start temporary curbs on supply as soon as next month … Most governments in the 28-nation bloc need more time to reconcile differences over a proposal by the EU...Read More
Despite stimulus, middle class still struggles … Five years ago Monday, President Barack Obama signed the signature economic proposal of his presidency, saying that the passage of the $787 billion economic stimulus package heralded the "the beginning of the end" of the Great Recession. The president told a Denver audience that he was "keeping the American Dream alive in our ti...Read More
EU Leaders Said to Delay Decision on 2030 Carbon Target … EU carbon prices rose as much as 3 percent to a 13-month high of 6.88 euros on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London today, buoyed by the commission's plan to start temporary curbs on supply as soon as next month … Most governments in the 28-nation bloc need more time to reconcile differences over a proposal by the EU...Read More
Yellen looks toward a Keynesian approach … This has been a banner week for the world economy, inspired largely by events in the United States. In Washington, the first congressional testimony from Janet Yellen in her position as new Federal Reserve Board chairwoman reassured and impressed two notoriously petulant audiences: Tea Party congressmen, who had assembled a posse of hostile witnesse...Read More
Gold price signals China credit bubble bursting as investors seek safety … Uncertainty is growing over China's ability to sustain the rapid rates of economic growth it has seen over the past decade as investors urgently stock up on the precious metal as a form of financial protection against a sharp correction in the world's second largest economy. This is the main reason why gold pr...Read More
Yellen looks toward a Keynesian approach … This has been a banner week for the world economy, inspired largely by events in the United States. In Washington, the first congressional testimony from Janet Yellen in her position as new Federal Reserve Board chairwoman reassured and impressed two notoriously petulant audiences: Tea Party congressmen, who had assembled a posse of hostile witnesse...Read More
Gold price signals China credit bubble bursting as investors seek safety … Uncertainty is growing over China's ability to sustain the rapid rates of economic growth it has seen over the past decade as investors urgently stock up on the precious metal as a form of financial protection against a sharp correction in the world's second largest economy. This is the main reason why gold pr...Read More
Please Hold Your Bernanke Applause … The plutocrats are heralding Ben S. Bernanke's eight years as Federal Reserve chairman. And with good reason. After all, Bernanke's two signature achievements – bailing out the bankrupt financial system and serving as the architect of the cheap-money policy known as quantitative easing – have done the very things the wealthy hoped they...Read More
The eurozone crisis is just getting started. The project to impose political union is bringing economic ruin, making the legitimacy of the EU project ever more vulnerable … In countries more obviously affected by the euro's financial crisis, disillusionment with the European project and its institutions is already extreme. Traditional centrist parties are finding it ever harder to hold t...Read More
Please Hold Your Bernanke Applause … The plutocrats are heralding Ben S. Bernanke's eight years as Federal Reserve chairman. And with good reason. After all, Bernanke's two signature achievements – bailing out the bankrupt financial system and serving as the architect of the cheap-money policy known as quantitative easing – have done the very things the wealthy hoped they...Read More
The eurozone crisis is just getting started. The project to impose political union is bringing economic ruin, making the legitimacy of the EU project ever more vulnerable … In countries more obviously affected by the euro's financial crisis, disillusionment with the European project and its institutions is already extreme. Traditional centrist parties are finding it ever harder to hold t...Read More
Bank of England Inflation Report: no rate hike while recovery remains 'unsustainable and unbalanced' … Bank severs link between unemployment rate and an interest rate hike, and caveats bullish growth assessment with concerns that the recovery is currently unsustainable. Interest rates are unlikely to rise before 2015, the Bank of England signalled on Wednesday, as it warned the recov...Read More
More Americans should work abroad … On Thursday, House Speaker John Boehner told members of the press that though immigration is "an important issue in our country" (thanks for that, John), it will be difficult to move immigration legislation this year. According to Boehner, the chief stumbling block is that Republican lawmakers simply don't trust the Obama administration to im...Read More
Bank of England Inflation Report: no rate hike while recovery remains 'unsustainable and unbalanced' … Bank severs link between unemployment rate and an interest rate hike, and caveats bullish growth assessment with concerns that the recovery is currently unsustainable. Interest rates are unlikely to rise before 2015, the Bank of England signalled on Wednesday, as it warned the recov...Read More
More Americans should work abroad … On Thursday, House Speaker John Boehner told members of the press that though immigration is "an important issue in our country" (thanks for that, John), it will be difficult to move immigration legislation this year. According to Boehner, the chief stumbling block is that Republican lawmakers simply don't trust the Obama administration to im...Read More
Economy U.S. stocks rose, giving benchmark indexes the biggest four-day rally in more than a year, as comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen fueled bets the economy is strong enough to weather further stimulus cuts … "The market likes consistency and what we've heard this morning has been consistent with what we've heard for months," Steven Rees, head of U.S. equ...Read More
House approves increase in debt ceiling with no strings attached, bill heads to Senate … The House voted Tuesday to raise the government's borrowing limit, as GOP leaders backed down from a potential confrontation with Democrats by declining to seek any concessions in exchange for the increase. The debt-ceiling bill passed on a 221-201 vote, and now goes to the Senate for final approval....Read More
Economy U.S. stocks rose, giving benchmark indexes the biggest four-day rally in more than a year, as comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen fueled bets the economy is strong enough to weather further stimulus cuts … "The market likes consistency and what we've heard this morning has been consistent with what we've heard for months," Steven Rees, head of U.S. equ...Read More
House approves increase in debt ceiling with no strings attached, bill heads to Senate … The House voted Tuesday to raise the government's borrowing limit, as GOP leaders backed down from a potential confrontation with Democrats by declining to seek any concessions in exchange for the increase. The debt-ceiling bill passed on a 221-201 vote, and now goes to the Senate for final approval....Read More
Voters in Switzerland have narrowly approved a rightwing proposal to curb immigration. It imposes limits on the number of foreigners allowed in and may signal an end to the country's free movement accord with the European Union. The initiative was approved by just 50.3% of the votes and was passed by a majority of cantons. The move by the Swiss People's Party – known for its anti-for...Read More