Aug 17 Watch Budget Gap Shuts Down City Services in Chicago A $469-million budget gap forced a shutdown of non-essential city services, such as garbage collection, in Chicago on Monday. Ray Suarez talks to Elizabeth Brackett of WTTW about the move. Continue watching
Aug 14 Watch U.S. Consumers Still Worried About Economy A new survey shows that despite positive economic forecasts, Americans are still concerned about scarce jobs and falling income. Continue watching
Aug 14 Who Gets the Interest on U.S. Government Debt? Question: We have a $12 trillion dollar debt and add to it pretty much every year. How does that work? I take on debt to buy, say, a car and I pay interest to the bank that loaned me… Continue reading
Aug 14 Consumer Prices Go Unchanged in July By Online DA The cost of living in the United States went unchanged in July, easing concerns among many experts that economic recovery will be hampered by rising inflation. Continue reading
Aug 13 U.S. Retail Sales Sink After 2 Months of Gains Sales at U.S. retailers sank in July for the first time in three months despite the government's popular 'cash for clunkers' incentive program, indicating that the American economy faces a bumpy recovery from its worst recession since World War II. Continue reading
Aug 13 When Did Formerly Safe Bonds Become Unsafe? Question: My question is: What about U.S. bond holders? I’ve seen bailouts of incompetent banks and businesses and some selective shareholder groups. Investment grade bonds were considered to be the safest investment next to… Continue reading
Aug 13 Home Foreclosures Set Third Record in Five Months By Online DA Foreclosure filings in the United States jumped in July, again setting a record for the third time in five months. The increase was due to falling home prices and the recession, which kept some homeowners from making payments or refinancing. Continue reading
Aug 12 Fed Holds Key Interest Rate at Record Low The Federal Reserve announced Wednesday that it will keep short-term interest rates at a record low in order to further stabilize the U.S. economy. But it signaled confidence in the recovery, saying economic activity is "leveling out."… Continue reading
Aug 12 Where Are Toxic Assets Now? Question: TARP was originally proposed to deal with “toxic assets” to unclog the books of financial institutions and prevent them from becoming insolvent. The toxic assets to date have not been bought up, so… Continue reading
Aug 12 Watch Fed Decision Signals Optimism for Economy The Fed decided Wednesday to keep short-term interest rates at a record low to help stabilize the economy. Jeffrey Brown speaks with a Washington Post reporter about the economic outlook. Continue watching