The 700-billion-dollar US government effort to rescue the financial system has failed to meet key goals such as sparking lending and curbing risky activities by banks, a special auditor said Sunday.
The special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program said in a report to Congress that it is too soon to measure the overall [...]
Archive for January, 2010
US economic rescue failing to meet key goals:auditor
January 31st, 2010 by Financial Writer
Tags: auditor, banks, financial crisis, financial system, lending, us businesses, us economic, us government
more...GDP data overstates economy’s health
January 30th, 2010 by Financial Writer
The U.S. economy turned in a surprisingly good performance in the fourth quarter, surging ahead by 5.7 percent on an annual basis, according to a government report released Friday.
Or did it?
President Obama was quick to highlight the economy’s progress and “the swift and aggressive actions that made it possible.” At a manufacturing company in Baltimore, [...]
Tags: action economics, economic indicators, gdp, inflation, us economy
Wages and benefits rise weak 1.5 percent in 2009
January 29th, 2010 by Financial Writer
Wages and benefits paid to U.S. workers posted a modest gain in the fourth quarter, ending a year in which recession-battered workers saw their compensation rise by the smallest amount on records going back more than a quarter-century.
The anemic gains have raised concerns about the durability of the economic recovery. The fear is that consumer [...]
Tags: economic recovery, employment compensation, Federal Reserve, recession, us workers
Durable goods orders climb while jobless claims dip
January 28th, 2010 by Financial Writer
New orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods edged higher last month and the number of workers filing applications for jobless aid fell last week, indicating the economy remains on a steady recovery path.
The Commerce Department said on Thursday durable goods orders rose 0.3 percent in December, held back by a surprise drop in civilian aircraft [...]
Tags: businesses, economic recovery, us economist, us manufactured, us stocks
Business warns regulation may crimp recovery
January 27th, 2010 by Financial Writer
Global business leaders warned Western governments on Wednesday that a populist crackdown on the financial industry could crimp a fragile recovery from the worst recession since the 1930s.
The worried response to U.S. President Barack Obama’s plans to curb big banks and a British assault on bankers’ pay came as 2,500 business leaders and policy makers [...]
Tags: business, commercial banks, financial industry, financial sector, global business, recession, world economic
Foreclosure relief program riddled with flaws
January 26th, 2010 by Financial Writer
Millions of Americans who are struggling to save their homes from foreclosure are trapped in a labyrinth of disappointment and misinformation created by the very institutions they’ve been told are trying to help them.
Ten months into the government’s third program in two years to stop a record wave of foreclosures, homeowners, housing counselors, consumer advocates [...]
Tags: consumer advocates, economic recovery, foreclosure, homeowners, housing counselors, lenders
Economic survey: Slow recovery continues
January 25th, 2010 by Financial Writer
Businesses expect to boost hiring and capital spending in the first half of the year as the U.S. recovery from the recession slowly continues, according to a new survey.
Since the fall of 2009 demand has edged higher in the goods-producing, finance and real estate industries, while other sectors such as transportation are seeing less drastic [...]
Tags: business economics, businesses, economic, real estate industries, recession, us recovery
Venezuelans march for, against Chavez amid shortages
January 24th, 2010 by Financial Writer
Thousands of Venezuelans marched for and against President Hugo Chavez on Saturday amid political and economic tensions fueled by a currency devaluation and shortages of water and power.
The marches were the first since Chavez sharply devalued the bolivar currency and deployed soldiers to stop retailers hiking prices and the start of water rationing and electricity [...]
Tags: businessman, economic tensions, financial pressure, hugo chavez, venezuelans march
AIG’s bailout disclosure surprised NY Fed
January 23rd, 2010 by Financial Writer
New York Federal Reserve officials debated in November 2008 whether the terms of the bailout of American International Group (AIG.N) could be kept secret from the public and whether securities regulators would even permit it to do so, according to emails obtained by Reuters on Friday.
The emails, given to Capitol Hill lawmakers by the New [...]
Tags: AIG, banks, deutsche bank, Federal Reserve, subprime mortgages
Unemployment rose in 43 states last month
January 22nd, 2010 by Financial Writer
Unemployment rates rose in 43 states last month, the government said Friday, painting a bleak picture of the job market and illustrating nationwide data released two weeks ago.
The rise in joblessness was a sharp change from November, when 36 states said their unemployment rates fell. Four states — South Carolina, Delaware, Florida and North Carolina [...]
Tags: delaware, Florida, north carolina, South Carolina, unemployment, unemployment rates