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American Paul Krugman wins Nobel

Congrats to Krugman - but the Nobel committee is strangely pro-globalization: Paul Krugman, the Princeton University scholar and New York Times columnist, won the Nobel prize in economics Monday for his analysis of how economies of scale can affect trade patterns and the location of economic activity. "Krugman is not only a scientist but also an opinion maker," economics prize committee member Tore Ellingsen said. He added that Krugman's analyses tend to back free trade and his research gives no "support for protectionism."

McCain Camp Can't Get Story Straight On Bailout

At the same time that Sen. John McCain was saying that he didn't deserve credit for getting an economic bailout package to the brink of completion, his campaign's chief strategist was arguing that the Senator played an integral role. Appearing on Meet the Press, McCain aide Steve Schmidt offered a bound-to-be-disputed version of what happened this week.

Hey, Big Number, Make Room for the Rest of Us

In the absence of any statistic of comparable cachet, however, the G.D.P. is regularly asked to do more than it was designed to do. It measures wealth just fine, but as a stand-in gauge for the nation's overall well-being, this supernumber is less than perfect. Or, as Robert F. Kennedy put it 40 years ago, the G.D.P. "measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile."

Oil Block Induced Profit Inflation – Crumbling Economy

Immediately nationalize all the oil companies whose corporate offices reside within the borders of the United States. Seize all assets belonging to the oil companies and their associated oil block (OPEC, oil speculators, and oil companies) thieves' intent upon exacting a short term extraction of available income from every sector of our dying economy.

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WASHINGTON -- The U.S. federal government ran a monthly budget deficit of $175.56 billion in February, a record for any month, the Treasury Department said Wednesday.

Qatar Gives Credit Suisse A Lift

LONDON - Credit Suisse shares got a lift on Monday following reports that the Qatar Investment Authority, a Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund, had begun its $15 billion spending spree in Europe and the U.S. with a stake in the Swiss bank.

Andy Stern: Restoring the Promise of the American Dream

Today we are living through a period of profound economic change. We have new ways of communicating, new methods of production, new means of generating wealth, new global competition. And while many of the ways we used to do business have changed, the American Dream has not.

Decarbonizing the carbon economy

...Not only is the carbon economy directly causing global heating, it is also responsible for the oil dependency that has led to the decay of the United States' national authority. The only way forward out of our morass is...

1 out of 6 Americans depend on programs for poor

The shocking truth about poverty in America: it's everywhere.

The ghost of Ken Lay and the university chair

Ken Lay is dead but his ghost lingers. The University of Missouri-Columbia is still trying to find someone to fill the Kenneth Lay Chair in Economics. The university says it's had plenty of inquiries but no-one wants to take it.

Americans see rich-poor gap worsening

CEO pay is a scam too: Nearly three-quarters of Americans believe inequality is a major issue, versus 24 percent who don't think so, according to a new Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll. Most of the concern is among Democrats and independent voters, though a majority of Republicans -- 55 percent -- also called the situation serious.

Call for liability caps

The push by the big accounting firms to get more protection from damages claims has gained momentum with a study from London Economics. It argues that n Arthur Andersen style action against one of the big four - KPMG, Ernst & Young, PwC and Deloitte - could pose a threat to financial stability of the wider economy and damage markets.

Reading Between the For-Sale Signs

Ruminations on a real-estate slowdown.

Clinton Economists: A Storm Is Coming

When Robert Rubin speaks his mind, his thoughts on economic policy are the gold standard for the Democratic Party. Rubin now freely acknowledges what the American establishment for many years denied or dismissed as inconsequential--globalization's role in generating the thirty-year stagnation of US wages, squeezing middle-class families and below, while directing income growth mainly to the upper brackets. A lot of Americans already knew this. Critics of "free trade" have been saying as much for years. But when Bob Rubin says it, his words can move politicians, if not financial markets.

Surprising Jump in Tax Revenues Curbs U.S. Deficit

Despite almost five years of economic growth, individual tax receipts have yet to reach the levels of 2000. Even with surging payments for investment profits and business income, individual tax payments in 2005 were only $972 billion below the $1 trillion reached in 2000, even without adjusting for inflation. Over all, individual and corporate taxes have lagged well behind the economy's growth over the past five years. Government spending, by contrast, mushroomed far faster than the economy.