Economy

  • Workers are enduring a sharp cut in living standards caused by rising food and gas prices--while a credit crunch, caused by the housing crisis, drags on. July 3, 2008

  • Housing prices are falling even more rapidly while politicians benefit from a cozy relationship with the mortgage industry they plan to bail out. June 27, 2008

  • As many as 3,000 people lined up outside a welfare office on the false rumor that emergency food vouchers would be distributed to those in need. June 26, 2008

  • The sensationalism of food riots and people taking to the streets has people talking about something that has been impacting nearly half of humanity. June 26, 2008

  • The Economist called the world food crisis a "silent tsunami," but it is not a natural disaster, and there's nothing silent about the response to it. June 25, 2008

  • By virtually every measure--wages, conditions, debt, unemployment and more--young working people are less well off today than preceding generations. June 18, 2008

  • The government's preferred measure of inflation remains fairly low--because the statistics-keepers don't count the prices of certain goods. June 13, 2008

  • With food prices climbing higher with every passing week, more and more poor and working-class families are finding it difficult to put food on the table. June 12, 2008

  • At the UN food summit in Rome, the priorities of world leaders were on display--and they didn't include alleviating the suffering of the hungry. June 11, 2008

  • The stock market plunged last Friday on a double-barreled blast of bad news--a record increase in oil prices and a sharp rise in the unemployment rate. June 9, 2008

  • The global crisis caused by increasing food prices is shining a spotlight on the terrible contradiction of a world of plenty where hundreds of millions go hungry. May 23, 2008

  • Next time you hear Wall Street experts say the economy isn't doing too badly after all, check your wallet--where you'll find a good deal less cash. May 22, 2008

  • One little-discussed factor in the global food crisis is speculators driving up the price of all commodities because of intense trading on futures markets. May 19, 2008

  • Can the Federal Reserve Bank save the U.S. economy? That's the hope and prayer of growing numbers of Wall Street executives. March 28, 2008

  • For working families, a skyrocketing grocery bill is one of the most ever-present reminders that they have been making do with less. March 21, 2008

  • The depths of the crisis in the world financial system were revealed in the wake of the collapse of the investment bank Bear Stearns. March 21, 2008

  • When you drive around Providence, R.I., there are "for sale" signs and boarded-up homes everywhere. March 14, 2008

  • Why is the government failing to push for the most aggressive solutions to help homeowners facing the threat of foreclosure? March 14, 2008

  • The foreclosure crisis in Stockton, Calif., is only the latest chapter in the roller-coaster ride the city has been through over the past decade. March 7, 2008

  • More and more workers are left...

    For a growing number of workers, being unemployed means being unemployed for a very long time--and a desperate struggle to get by. February 22, 2008

  • Home foreclosures hit record levels in 2007--and there's a lot worse to come. That's the view of both homeowners' advocates and Wall Street firms. February 8, 2008

  • The wild swings on stock markets worldwide are highlighting fears that a severe recession is around the corner--if not already here. February 1, 2008

  • The mortgage crisis is now dominating the headlines, but the underlying question remains: Who will help people at risk of losing their homes? February 1, 2008

  • Bush's plan to "save" the economy:

    Financial markets plunged in the U.S. and around the world in an abject rejection of Bush's plan for an economic stimulus package. January 25, 2008

  • While the ranks of the unemployed grow, fired Wall Street CEOs got paid millions more on their way out the door. January 18, 2008