Economic Recession

Through the second half of 2007, to the collapse of Bear Stearns, US equity indexes were leading America into recession. Markets were discounting shares to reflect serious and prolonged earnings and profit reduction. Stock prices were indicating a long hard fall. Serious turmoil in the financial industry, housing collapse and...

With the release of the latest GDP report, the possibility of a consumer lead recession just increased.

First, before today's GDP report there was a series of charts that caused me great concern. Here they are in the appropriate order.

Year over year job growth has been deteriorating...

Yesterday, Bernanke testified on capital hill. His testimony, which is available on the Federal Reserve's website, offers a good overview of how the Fed views the economy.

It's also important to remember the Fed is as much a political player as it is an economic player. While a...

As the U.S. economy careens toward that big cliff called Recession, there's a scramble to understand just how we got into this predicament. The theories abound: The banks lent too much. People spent too much. Total consumer indebtedness is $2.5 trillion1, and according to a recent Congressional report, the total...

The bailout of Bear Stearns could be the first of a wave of financial lifeboats. US housing is overpriced. Retail sales are in the dumps. And the consumer spending spree that fluffed up the economy for a few years? Done.

"In short," enthuses Jack Neff in yesterday's...

No. A Depression is not possible. At least, I don't think so. But the very fact that I qualify the answer suggests how dangerous the current financial crisis is.

Too much of what is going on today resembles the 1920s, when speculation was rampant, conflicts of interest the...

One thing to keep in mind as we live through the pain of this deepening recession: It didn't have to happen.

Sure, recessions are part of the natural economic order, implicit in the yin and yang of the business cycle. But often they're brought on by some external shock, like...

I mentioned my article "Wall Street's House of Cards" a few weeks ago on the Huffington Post and received requests to publish it online. Well, I finally got around to posting it on my website. I hope you will read it and find it enlightening. I also included the...

In the 1960s, when the peace movement called for reductions in arms spending, otherwise 'neutral' economists would say "you can't cut back on armaments without destroying the domestic economy!" As President Eisenhower had said in his farewell address, we had become dependent for our prosperity on the arms race and...

For late-night talk show hosts, yukking up George W. Bush's visit to the Middle East was like shooting fish in a barrel. Supposedly on a mission promoting peace (between Israel and the Palestinians) the President spent most of his trip rattling sabers against Iran. He spoke glowingly in Abu Dhabi...

Breaking news! Some major investment banking firms are predicting (gasp!) a recession for the U.S. economy.

This prediction comes from the same folks who failed to predict the tech bust in 2000 (which cost investors trillions of dollars) and who also missed the sub-prime bond crisis (which cost investors...

rescue |ˈreskyoō|

verb ( -cues , -cued, -cuing ) [ trans. ]

save (someone) from a dangerous or distressing situation

an act of saving or being saved from danger or distress

NEW YORK: Who doesn't love the idea of a dramatic rescue -- like saving a child who fell...