What Else Is New? Economy Slumps, Oil Profits Surge

Staff / Truthdig Aug 1, 2008 Despite the massive federal stimulus package, national GDP only grew 1.9 percent from April to June, the Commerce Department has announced, and it actually shrank in the last quarter of 2007. Meanwhile, high gas prices, supposedly reflecting costs, spiked profits of oil companies, with Exxon recording its most profitable quarter ever. In fact, reports the NYT, "It was the highest quarterly profit ever for any American company, as Exxon made nearly $90,000 a minute." Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Bailout Time for Fannie and Freddie

Staff / Truthdig Jul 29, 2008 Congress to the rescue! Mortgage lending giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are being propped up in their time of dire need, thanks to a bill passed Saturday that will lift the world's two largest financial institutions out of immediate danger and help some homeowners handle mortgage crises. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

The Rich Get Richer

Staff / Truthdig Jul 28, 2008 According to the most recent data from the IRS, the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans took home a greater share of the nation's income in 2006 than in any year of the previous 19. It's possibly the biggest income disparity Americans have seen since the Great Depression. The average tax rate of the super-rich was at its lowest level in at least 18 years. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Did Bush Put a Hit Out on Fannie, Freddy?

Staff / Truthdig Jul 22, 2008 From madcap marketeer Jim Cramer to wired alt-blogger Scott Thill, there are more than a few braniacs who believe the Bush White House did not just watch the collapse of Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac but actually engineered it as yet another sortie in the long GOP war against the New Deal. Never fear, though, as The Onion has already written a satirical report on efforts to build a better bubble. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Inflation Runs at a 26-Year High

Staff / Truthdig Jul 16, 2008 The once-mighty US dollar is full of hot air, or at least the rate of inflation is at a 26-year high due to the recent economic toils and astronomical energy prices Prices U consumers pay shot up 11 percent in June -- or more directly, your paycheck just got 11 percent smaller. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

The House That Gramm Built

Marie Cocco / Truthdig Jul 15, 2008 Phil Gramm's dismissal of America's economic suffering has forced him to the political sidelines, but as one of the congressional architects of Republican economics, the mess he made will haunt Americans no matter who the next president is. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

The Rise and Fall of Fannie and Freddie

Staff / Truthdig Jul 13, 2008 Although certain Washington denizens from both sides of the aisle might have been thrown when the two government-backed mortgage finance companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, hit the skids last week, several of their current and former colleagues had long seen the crisis coming. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

McCain Adviser: Recession All in Our Minds

Staff / Truthdig Jul 11, 2008 According to Phil Gramm, the former senator from Texas who's now a key economic adviser to Sen. John McCain, America's economic woes, insofar as they actually exist, are the product of some stinking thinking by "a nation of whiners" and doom-and-gloom headlines from the U.S. media. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Starbucks Going From Venti to Grande

Staff / Truthdig Jul 2, 2008 Fine, so the headline was a bit much, but this was one time we didn't mind saying venti instead of large: Turns out that even the top bananas at Starbucks finally realized that they've overextended themselves, and due to the sagging economy, they're closing 600 U.S. retail locations. Great -- so that means there'll be only eight Starbucks stores on every block instead of nine. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Greenspan Talks Recession as Oil Prices Soar

Staff / Truthdig Jun 25, 2008 Seems like everything is a crisis these days, what with the subprime mortgage crisis, the oil crisis and, perhaps most troubling of all, the climate change crisis. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan acknowledged the complexity and interconnectedness of these unsettling trends Tuesday, stopping short of declaring that a major recession is on the way but without ruling out a recession of lesser magnitude. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Firing Congress

Marie Cocco / Truthdig Jun 10, 2008 In 225 days, at least one high-ranking politician will become unemployed. How many will join President Bush in retirement? Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Unemployment Takes Its Biggest Jump Since 1986

Staff / Truthdig Jun 6, 2008 In what one economist has called the "strongest evidence yet" that the U.S. is in recession, the country's jobless rate has grown 0.5% since April, the largest monthly jump in more than 20 years. The unemployment rate has been steadily rising this year, with 324,000 jobs lost since January. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )