United States

If you haven't noticed, credit is hard to come by these days. And the data are finally showing this state of affairs. The latest data from August show that consumer credit plunged by $7.9 billion, the most since record keeping…

In the Vice-Presidential debate, Sarah Palin, in one of her few unscripted moments, gave wholehearted support for Dick Cheney's dangerous expansion of Vice Presidential power. Joe Biden vigourosly disagreed, calling Cheney "the most…

The Dow Jones Industrial Average has just fallen below 10,000 for the first time since 2004. Breaking through the 10,000 barrier was a huge deal on CNBC when we were partying like it was 1999, nine years ago. Essentially, we are back to…

Politico is reporting that the Democrats are on track to potentially reach a super-majority of sixty seats in the U.S. Senate. Sixty is a very important number in the Senate because it neuters any attempt by the opposing party to block…

The deed is done. Despite huge voter disquiet about the terms of the bailout package, Congress has passed the bill and it awaits the U.S. President's signature. The house vote was 263 to 171, with a huge number of Congress members moving…

Marshall Auerback here. I have a quick thought regarding the credit crisis and bank lending in the US. If the real purpose of the Paulson Plan is recapitalization more than reliquification, and if the Scandinavian public recaps of their…

The unemployment data came out for the month of September 2008 in the U.S. Payrolls fell by 159,000, but the unemployment rate remained the same at 6.1%. The data are consistent with recent weekly unemployment claims data, which point to…

If you don't think this credit crunch is a Main Street event, you must see this video. When a lack of credit availability stops people from getting an education, you have to do something. For those of you watching the equity markets as a…

Below is a link to the Library of Congress (LOC) website and a few links to the Senate Banking Committee site which have the details on the 'Economic Stabilization' Bill which passed the Senate by a vote of 74-25.The Bill, called H.R.1424…

I try to report on these numbers as objectively as possible, but the drip-drip of negative news out of the U.S. starts to wear on you. Jobless claims were expected to drop substantially after the effects of Hurricane Ike wore off. I was…