The economy of the world

America's unorthodox economic policies | Plan C

THE Federal Reserve’s interest-rate target is at 1%. The recession is deepening. And the question is being asked repeatedly: when will America’s economic policymakers start using truly unconventional measures to stimulate the economy? The answer is that they already have. Without making any formal declaration, since early September the Fed has expanded its balance-sheet rapidly to counter the credit crunch. Under the guise of successive new programmes, each with a less memorable ...

Holiday flights expected to be jammed

Thanksgiving holiday fliers will face packed planes this week, but there's one piece of good news: Flight delays have fallen sharply this fall.

China's stimulus package | Reflating the dragon

WHEN Deng Xiaoping set China on the road of economic reforms in 1978, Western economists argued that “Only capitalism can save China.” Exactly 30 years later, some pundits are claiming that “Only China can save capitalism.” Most rich economies are now facing recession. But if China, the world’s third-biggest economy, can manage to sustain reasonably robust growth, it will help to cushion global output. A massive stimulus package of 4 trillion yuan (nearly $600 bi...

Clean technology in the downturn

The economic slowdown casts a shadow over the prospects for clean technology

Loss in confidence in banks causes huge shifts in deposits

The exodus of money from the stock market and troubled banks is reshaping the financial industry as quickly as any government bailout. Amid unrelenting economic turmoil, investors are pulling billions of dollars out of the plunging stock market. They're also withdrawing money en masse from banks perceived as troubled and putting it into others deemed in better shape. And, in a sign of just how nervous Americans have become, some have even started to hoard cash outside of banks.

U.S. Stocks Slide in Turbulent Trading

Amid unrelenting pessimism about the health of the global economy and world governments’ ability to solve the financial crisis, stocks swung wildly on Friday, with the Dow Jones industrial average down 566 points, or 6.5 percent, by early afternoon in New York, continuing this week’s aggressive sell-off.

Entrepreneurs struggle to hang on across the USA

If there is a rock and a hard place in the U.S. economy, small businesses are there. Right in that little crevice where money is tight — and getting tighter. Right where weekly payrolls can be financed only by personal credit cards or home equity loans. And right where "income" for the boss is taking five bucks from the till and paying for a sandwich that day for lunch. "Small businesses are in a real tough spot now," says Todd McCracken, president of the National Small Business Assoc...

Congress Objects to Lack of Help Aimed at Homeowners

The White House waged a multifront campaign Tuesday to persuade Congress to accept its vast economic bailout plan, though many in Congress, still unhappy with what they were hearing, continued to push for changes that would provide stronger protection for taxpayers and impose tougher terms on financial institutions.

U.S. to Take Over AIG in $85 Billion Bailout; Central Banks Inject Cash as Credit Dries Up

U.S. to Take Over AIG in $85 Billion Bailout; Central Banks Inject Cash as Credit Dries Up - WSJ.com

Treasury to Provide Fed Funding

WASHINGTON -- The Treasury Department Wednesday announced a financing program designed to provide cash for the Federal Reserve to use in the attempt to address liquidity pressures in the financial market.