United States

According to Seattle-based Zilliow, nearly one-third of U.S. home buyers who bought in the last five years are now underwater. A full 45% of those who bought at the peak in 2006 have negative equity in their homes. Negative equity makes…

This commentary in the Financial Times from Byron Wien, the former Morgan Stanley guru, is spot on. Everyone making a decision to vote for President in the U.S. should heed Wien's word before pulling that lever.America’s decline will not…

Ben Smith has a good column on McCain's bellicose response to Russia's invasion of Georgia. Even George W. Bush has shown more statesmanship here.‘Invasion of Georgia’—a ‘3 a.m. moment’When the North Caucasus slid into war Thursday night,…

Now that Russia has finally gotten belligerent after many a provocation, one has to ask whether the U.S. NATO expansion plans have been wise. Basically, the U.S. has tried to offer every Eastern Bloc country it could safe harbor under NATO…

This is one of those things that make you go hmm.... But, hey, this is what people really think.The housing downturn has been under way for a while now, so it's hard to believe that many homeowners could still think their homes are…

I am sufficiently concerned about John McCain and his foreign policy creds to write a blurb about his anti-Russia rhetoric and its likely effect now that Russia is on a rampage in Georgia.My colleague Lisa Lerer, traveling with McCain,…

As we are now one year in to the credit crunch, it is obvious to anyone how widespread and deep this credit crisis really is. I have been doing a lot of thinking about the 'light at the end of the tunnel.' Quite frankly, there is none.…

A week ago, jobless claims rose to a multi-year high of 448,000 on the back of seasonal adjustments. This week is no different, but there are some telling changes that make this week's numbers more worrisome.First, jobless claims hit a…

I've been thinking a lot about unrealized gains and their effect on the global economy. if you remember, I wrote a few weeks ago about a new debit card that lets people tap the money from their 401(k) plan. I think these cards are a bad…

Clive Crook of the Financial Times rightly takes on the Bush Administration and its squandering of hundreds of billions of dollars of fiscal surplus on war in Iraq and ta cuts for the wealthy. In this time of economic crisis, the U.S. is…