Over the past couple of years, the federal government has engaged in massive spending programs designed to kick-start our sluggish economy. The typical byproduct of such policies is inflation, bringing higher interest rates. Yet mortgage rates have surprised almost every economist in 2011 by remaining low. How can this be?
The third year of Barack Obama's presidency is running into the same troubles he faced in his first two, thus undermining his prospects for a second term.
Just two days before Christmas, marketing manager Margi MacDuff was ebullient, talking on the phone from the Huntington Mall in Barboursville, W.Va., where shoppers were out in last-minute fury.
The Obama administration has vowed to ramp up enforcement of existing trade agreements in an effort to open markets further to U.S. exports. The pledge is popular with members of Congress who blame job losses on trading partners that "cheat," especially China, but the tactic could backfire easily.
Beijing warned Washington Thursday that economic ties might be damaged after American lawmakers escalated the conflict over China's currency controls, inching the two economic giants closer to a trade war.
Federal communications regulators Wednesday put off a controversial decision on Internet-traffic rules, giving industry and consumer groups a chance to forge a compromise while avoiding a politically sensitive issue ahead of the November elections.
