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NewsPapers
- -10-11-04 Nobel Prize in Economics Awarded (Fox News)
"Finn E. Kydland, 60, of Norway, teaches at Carnegie Mellon University (search) in Pittsburgh and the University of California at Santa Barbara (search)."
"Edward C. Prescott, 63 — the fifth American to receive the economics award since 2000 — teaches at Arizona State University (search) in Tempe, Ariz., and serves as an adviser to the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis"
. "The pair received Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for their work that showed that driving forces behind business cycle fluctuations and the design of economic policy are key areas in macroeconomic research."
"Kydland and Prescott made fundamental contributions to macroeconomic analysis and the practice of monetary and fiscal policy in many countries, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in its citation." 10-04
- -10-21-04 Leading Economic Indicators Down (USA Today)
"The Index of Leading Economic Indicators, a widely watched barometer of future economic activity, edged lower in September for the fourth month in a row, indicating a slowing in economic growth, a private research group reported Thursday." 10-04
- -10-28-04 New Check Cashing Regulations Kick In (CBS News)
"New federal regulations designed to speed up the processing of checks went into effect on Thursday, and consumer advocates advised Americans to be more vigilant about monitoring their accounts."
"The Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act — better known as Check 21 — will allow financial institutions to exchange electronic images of consumers' checks rather than transporting the actual paper checks around by air, land and sea." 10-04
- -11-16-04 Wholesale Prices Jump (USA Today)
"Wholesale prices shot up 1.7% last month, biggest gain in nearly 15 years and well above expectations, as energy costs skyrocketed and food prices surged, a government report said Tuesday." 11-04
- -11-17-04 Kmart to Buy Sears (CNN News)
"Kmart is buying Sears, Roebuck & Co. for $11 billion in a deal that will marry two of the nation's oldest but troubled retailers into the No. 3 retail chain."
"For consumers, the deal means being able to get appliances and other hard goods at Kmart and more clothing at Sears."
"The companies currently operate about 3,500 stores combined."
"The merger should help the new company compete against Wal-Mart Stores (Research), the world's largest retailer and an aggressive discounter, as well as Home Depot (Research), the home improvement chain that ranks as the country's No. 2 retailer overall, and Target (Research), which will lose its place as No. 3 to the combined Sears-Kmart." 11-04
- 01-15-04 J.P. Morgan and Bank One to Merger (USA Today)
"Set to take over as CEO in 2006 under a detailed power-sharing arrangement, Bank One CEO Dimon hopes to lead a colossus that glues J.P. Morgan's volatile investment banking and trading concerns with the more predictable consumer and credit card businesses of Bank One."
"J.P. Morgan Chase, as the combined company is to be known, would be the nation's second-biggest bank, with $1 trillion of assets and 2,300 branches in 17 states centered in the Midwest and Northeast. Only Weill's Citigroup (C), with its huge global reach, would be larger." 1-04
- 02-09-04 Deficit - Bush Seeks Additional $1 Trillion of Debt (Washington Times)
"President Bush, saying the economic recovery is firmly in place, yesterday proposed adding $1 trillion to the national debt to fund the cost of shifting to a partially privatized Social Security system." 2-04
- 02-27-04 Budget Deficit to Balloon (USA Today)
"President Bush's budget would produce deficits totaling $2.75 trillion over the next decade, the Congressional Budget Office projected Friday in the first authoritative look at the plan's longer-range implications."
"One major item omitted by Bush's budget but included in Friday's projections was the cost of his proposal to make tax cuts permanent that otherwise would expire in 2010. Bush's tax plans would add more than $1.3 trillion to deficits over the decade, although his plans to curb domestic spending would save $700 billion over that same period, the budget office said."
"Wary of the impact on deficits, Republican congressional leaders already have said they will not move this year on Bush's proposal to extend the tax cuts, which is the pillar of his plan for strengthening the economy." 2-04
- 03-03-04 Economy Improving But Jobs Slow (CBS News)
"Factories hummed and consumers kept cash registers busy in the first two months of this year, fresh evidence that the economic recovery is moving ahead, according to a Federal Reserve report Wednesday."
"Even with the pickup in factory activity, manufacturers have lost 3 million jobs since July 2000. That's the month factory employment peaked as the economy was enjoying a record-long expansion." 3-04
- 03-03-04 Record U.S. Trade Deficit (CBS News)
"The United States registered a record $489.4 billion trade deficit for 2003 as a rebounding U.S. economy strengthened Americans' appetites for a wide range of foreign-made goods, including cars, clothing and TVs."
"Critics point to the deficits as evidence that the president's free-trade policies aren't working and are a factor in the loss of U.S. jobs."
"The latest snapshot of trade activity comes amid rising tensions over global trade and concerns about the flight, or outsourcing, of U.S. jobs to other countries. President Bush's chief economist, Gregory Mankiw, struck a political nerve earlier this week when he described the loss of U.S. jobs to overseas companies as 'just a new way of doing international trade.' "
"Painfully slow job growth in the United States is a political sore spot for the president and an issue that Democrats, seeking to capture the White House, like to point out to voters in an election year." 3-04
- 03-05-04 Major Jobs Disappointment (CBS News)
"The U.S. employment report for February proved to be a major disappointment. The jobless rate remained unchanged at 5.6 percent, and the economy was only able to generate 21,000 jobs."
The latest snapshot of the employment climate released by the Labor Department on Friday depicted the painfully slow job growth the country has been enduring." 3-04
- 03-05-04 Martha Stewart Found Guilty (CBS News)
"Martha Stewart was convicted of obstructing justice and lying to the federal government about why she unloaded her stock in a biotech company just before the price plummeted. The verdict could send her to prison and cripple the homemaking empire built around her vision of gracious living." 3-04
- 06-03-04 CIA Chief Tenet Resigns (CBS News)
"The U.S. economy has kicked in to high gear, creating another 248,000 payroll jobs in May, the Labor Department estimated Friday."
"The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.6 percent. That's because tens of thousands of jobless are renewing their search for work in the wake of an improving labor market." 6-04
- 06-30-04 Interest Rates Go Up (USA Today)
"The Federal Reserve raised its target for a key interest rate by a quarter-point Wednesday, starting what is expected to be a cycle of rising interest rates that pulls the plug on the cheapest credit in decades." 6-04
- 07-02-04 More Jobs, Less Joy (CBS News)
"Employers hired less help in June than economists anticipated — adding 112,000 new payroll jobs — and the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.6 percent for a third straight month."
"Payrolls in April and May also were revised down slightly from the big gains previously reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics." 7-04
- 07-29-04 Jobless Claims Inch Up (USA Today News)
"Wages and benefits for U.S. workers rose a moderate 0.9% in the April-June quarter, down slightly from the previous quarter's increase, as price pressures for benefits like health insurance eased significantly." 7-04
- 08-26-04 Poverty and Uninsured Ranks Swell (MSNBC News - Wolk)
"The nation’s poverty rate rose for a third straight year in 2003 and the ranks of the uninsured swelled, the Census Bureau said Thursday in a report sure to fuel election-season debate over President Bush’s handling of the economy."
"The poverty rate has risen from a recent low of 11.3 percent in 2000, meaning an additional 4.3 million people are living in poverty as defined by the government."
"Based on the census numbers, real income has fallen by about $1,500 per household over the past three years, and the ranks of the uninsured have risen by more than 5 million, Kerry said." 8-04
- 09-15-04 Martha Stewart to Start Serving Time (USA Today)
"Putting her company's interests ahead of her own, Martha Stewart said Wednesday that she wants to start serving her five-month prison sentence as soon as possible. " 9-04
- 09-15-04 Senate Committee Blocks Bush Overtime Rules (USA Today)
"A Senate committee defied President Bush and voted Wednesday to derail new federal overtime rules that critics say would prevent 6 million American workers from getting the bonus pay."
"The language was offered by Sen. Tom Harkin, D- Iowa, who said new Bush administration overtime rules that took effect on Aug. 23 would deny the extra pay to many workers who had received it."
"Harkin said the new rules are "anti-worker, anti-job growth, and anything but family friendly." 9-04
- Bush Tax Plan Created Jobs Overseas Instead of USA (Washington Times)
"The job market slumped back into stagnation last month with the unemployment rate stuck at 5.6 percent and only 21,000 jobs created, a development that spells trouble for President Bush's re-election effort."
"The president sought to jump-start a job recovery with $350 billion in tax cuts last year but the response has been only weak and dwindling job gains."
" 'The tax cut gave a big increase to spending, but when folks go to Wal-Mart, they buy imported goods so the job growth goes to China' and other countries, he [Morici] said." 3-04
- Editorial: Other Shortfalls Much Greater Than Social Security (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)
"The Social Security and Medicare Trustees, a majority of whom are members of the President’s cabinet, project that the Social Security shortfall will amount to 0.65 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (the basic measure of the size of the U.S. economy) over the next 75 years. In dollar terms, the Trustees project the shortfall over the 75 year period at $3.7 trillion."
"The Trustees also project the cost of the Medicare drug benefit at 1.4 percent of GDP — or $8.1 trillion — over the same period. This is at least double the size of the Social Security shortfall." 2-05
- GAO: Americans owe $43 Trillion in Debt (MSNBC News)
"Meanwhile on Thursday Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan praised the virtues of a consumption tax, which economists such as Laurence Kotlikoff have argued would be one equitable way to help pay the staggering cost of unfunded liabilities for Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security."
"According to the General Accountability Office, the government’s fiscal watchdog, the federal government’s net liabilities, unfunded commitments, and other obligations now amount to more than $43 trillion, or about $350,000 for every full-time worker." 3-05
- Greenspan: Reduce Social Security Benefits (CNN News)
"Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan urged Congress on Wednesday to deal with the country's escalating budget deficit by cutting benefits for future Social Security retirees rather than raising taxes."
"In testimony before the House Budget Committee, Greenspan said the current deficit situation, with a projected record red ink of $521 billion this year, will worsen dramatically once the baby boom generation starts becoming eligible for Social Security benefits in just four years."
"In his prepared testimony, Greenspan said pushing taxes up enough to meet future spending promises under Social Security and Medicare might pose a risk to the overall economy."
" 'We are going to be confronted ... in a few years with an upward ratcheting of long-term interest rates which will be very debilitating for long-term growth,' Greenspan told the committee if the deficit problem is not addressed." 2-04
- Greenspan: Reduce Social Security Benefits (CNN News)
"Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan urged Congress on Wednesday to deal with the country's escalating budget deficit by cutting benefits for future Social Security retirees rather than raising taxes."
"In testimony before the House Budget Committee, Greenspan said the current deficit situation, with a projected record red ink of $521 billion this year, will worsen dramatically once the baby boom generation starts becoming eligible for Social Security benefits in just four years."
"In his prepared testimony, Greenspan said pushing taxes up enough to meet future spending promises under Social Security and Medicare might pose a risk to the overall economy."
" 'We are going to be confronted ... in a few years with an upward ratcheting of long-term interest rates which will be very debilitating for long-term growth,' Greenspan told the committee if the deficit problem is not addressed." 2-04
- Medicare Will Be Broke by 2019 (Bloomberg.com)
"Hospital payments for the elderly under the U.S. Medicare program will exceed income for the first time this year, nine years earlier than anticipated, and the federal program's assets will dry up in 2019, seven years sooner than expected, trustees for the program said." 3-04
- New $50 Bill Released (CBS News)
"Security features include an embedded thread that glows yellow when exposed to an ultraviolet light; ink that changes color - from copper to green - when the note is tilted; watermarks visible when held up to light; and hard-to-replicate microprinting. In one spot, the tiny words 'United States of America' appear on Grant's collar, under his beard." 9-04
- Poverty and Uninsured Ranks Swell (MSNBC News - Wolk)
"The nation’s poverty rate rose for a third straight year in 2003 and the ranks of the uninsured swelled, the Census Bureau said Thursday in a report sure to fuel election-season debate over President Bush’s handling of the economy."
"The poverty rate has risen from a recent low of 11.3 percent in 2000, meaning an additional 4.3 million people are living in poverty as defined by the government."
"Based on the census numbers, real income has fallen by about $1,500 per household over the past three years, and the ranks of the uninsured have risen by more than 5 million, Kerry said." 8-04
- Resistance Building to Huge Budget Deficit (Christian Science Monitor)
"Even before President Bush's next budget hits Capitol Hill, lawmakers even in his own party are mounting barricades against what many see as a spending binge that's settling into a habit." 1-04
- Tennessee to Reward Companies for Not Outsourcing (USAToday.com)
"The new law asks state procurement officials to give preference in bids for such services to contractors employing workers only in the United States. It was approved overwhelmingly by lawmakers last month and signed into law last week." 5-04
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