Economy

08/02/2007 -- More than two-thirds of Americans believe the U.S. economy is either in recession now or will be in the next year, according to a Wall Street Journal/NBC News survey published Thursday. The American people know what President Bush does not. That is why the president needs a White House budget director who will make him face the facts, not fan his fantasies.

Senator Bernie Sanders, a member of the Senate Budget Committee, on Thursday voted against the confirmation of former Rep. Jim Nussle to be the White House budget director. Sanders also placed a hold on the nomination.    » read more »

August 3, 2007 -- PARTICIPANTS: Deputy Press Secretary Tony Fratto; Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors Ed Lazear; Director of the Office of Management and Budget Rob Portman

MR. FRATTO: Good morning, everyone. Thanks for coming. Unfortunately, Al Hubbard had to cancel -- that's who we were waiting for, we would have been on time -- Chairman Lazear and Director Portman are always on time. But thanks for coming this morning. We're going to have Chairman Lazear lead off, and then go to Rob. And we'll talk about the jobs report and the state of the economy. Thank you.    » read more »

New York, 31 July 2007 (By Victoria Cavaliere) -- A leading U.S. business research group says consumer confidence has risen to a six-year high, reflecting an improving job market and business climate. Victoria Cavaliere reports from VOA's New York Bureau.

The New York-based Conference Board says Americans are positive about the current state of the economy, after a dip in the consumer confidence index in June. The index rose more than seven points to a six-year high in the month ending July 24.    » read more »

17 July 2007 -- The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions and the Congress of South African Trade Unions issued a joint statement on Monday warning that if the crisis talks between the Zimbabwean ruling party and its political opposition fail - as some observers say they have done already - the Zimbabwean economy “will completely collapse.”    » read more »

18 July 2007 -- The House of Representatives Financial Services Committee Tuesday heard from economists who agreed the weakening dollar is likely to decline further.

Committee member Ron Paul, a conservative Republican, called attention to the dollar's weakness. The U.S. currency, he said, has this year lost nine percent against the euro and even more against some other currencies.

"It's lost more than 10 percent against the British pound," he said. "And lo and behold, the Indian rupee - if you had been holding Indian rupees - you would have made 13 percent."    » read more »

July 11, 2007 - Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean issued the following statement in response to President Bush's attempt today to paint a rosy picture on the state of the economy:    » read more »

12 July 2007 -- Amid official data showing record rises in its foreign currency reserves and trade surplus, Washington-based experts are predicting rising trade tension between the United States and China.

China trade specialist William Reinsch told a Washington forum Wednesday that U.S. Congress is considering five separate measures aimed at forcing China to speed up the revaluation of its currency.    » read more »

07/11/2007 -- Highlighting the urgent need for health care reform, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today joined the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research to release a new report, “The State of Health Insurance in California: Findings from the 2005 California Health Interview Survey,” regarding uninsured Californians. The key finding of the report is that job-based insurance is disappearing, leaving millions of Californians vulnerable to illness and bankruptcy.    » read more »

Reforms, advances in Ghana highlight promise of partnership with 38 nations

09 July 2007 -- Washington -– Strengthening the partnership for economic reforms and development between the United States and 38 African nations is the aim of the sixth annual African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum.

The forum will be held in Accra, Ghana, July 18-19, and U.S. and African officials said activity under AGOA in the host nation spotlights the goals and potential benefits of the law.    » read more »

July 6, 2007 -- Crazy Horse, South Dakota – The director of the U.S. Treasury Department's Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund, Kimberly A. Reed, visited South Dakota's Crazy Horse Memorial today to announce awards totaling $3,632,292 to 19 organizations serving Native American or Alaskan Native communities in 12 states. The awards were made through the CDFI Fund's Native American CDFI Assistance (NACA) Program.    » read more »

06 July 2007 -- International economists say China's huge buildup of foreign currency reserves has contributed to the boom conditions that have led to a bubble in the Shanghai stock market, which is up 400 percent in less than two years. VOA's Barry Wood has more on what might be an unanticipated consequence of China's export success.    » read more »

July 2, 2007 -- PORTLAND – Maine Governor John E. Baldacci today signed LD 1926, “An Act To Expand the Pine Tree Development Zone Benefits to Small and Midsize Maine Manufacturers.” The legislation builds on the popular and successful Pine Tree Zone program (PTZ), an important economic development initiative the Governor created four years ago.    » read more »

02 July 2007 -- Several Asian countries saw the fastest growth in the number of millionaires worldwide last year. And in China, the government plans to raise the minimum wage.

The number of Asians with assets of more than $1 million increased 8.6 percent in 2006, compared with a year earlier. Investment bank Merrill Lynch's annual wealth report, released jointly with financial services provider Capgemini, says their combined wealth increased 10.5 percent to more than $8 trillion.    » read more »

28 June 2007 -- U.S.Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson says globalization has been a positive force on the world economy, reducing poverty and spurring development around the globe. At the same time, he acknowledges the benefits of globalization are not being shared equally and this has led to a backlash against it.

Speaking at the New York Stock Exchange, Secretary Pauslon said globalization is the key economic issue facing business and governments today.    » read more »

Three scenarios explore how globalization and innovation will reshape the financial services sector over the coming years

Singapore, 24 June 2007 – The pace of technology-led innovation and globalization is fundamentally changing the financial services landscape.

Today, on the occasion of the World Economic Forum on East Asia in Singapore, the Forum launched its latest scenario report, aimed at exploring how these accelerating forces will transform the financial services sector through 2020.    » read more »