The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) forecasts the U.S. budget deficit will hit $1.3 trillion this year. An astronomical figure, to be sure, but that’s lower than was projected in March. It’s also less than last year’s record $1.41 trillion deficit, which was close to 10% of GDP. And, that’s the good news. As the deficit grows so does the national debt,... 

This file photo shows members of a group called 'The Other 95 Percent' hold a rally to thank US President Barack Obama for their middle class tax cuts as a counter-protest to anti-tax groups rallying on the National Mall in Washington April 15, 2010. The American middle class is on the verge of disappearing, while the United States, itself, is in danger of becoming... 

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner (r.) and the National Urban League's Marc Morial watch as PIMCO's Bill Gross speaks during the Obama administration's Conference on the Future of Housing Finance in the Cash Room of the Treasury Building in Washington, Tuesday. The Obama administration turned its focus on what to do with mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie... 

Global youth unemployment has hit a record high following the financial crisis and is likely to get worse later this year, the International Labor Organization (ILO) said Thursday. The report from the ILO says 81 million out of 630 million 15-24 year olds where unemployed at the end of 2009, some 7.8 million more than at the end of 2007. Thursday marks the first... 

Shipping containers pile up at a new container port in Wuhan, China on March 27. After three decades of spectacular growth, China passed Japan in the second quarter to become the world’s second-largest economy behind the United States, according to government figures released early Monday. The milestone, though anticipated for some time, is the most striking evidence... 

Normally when I cover subjects in the economy, I try to take a “macro” approach, giving an overall view of various financial elements around the world and how they are clearly connected to one another in a greater synchronous social force. That is to say, in Chinese domestic consumption, or European debt obligations, or Russian gold reserves, and in many other... 

Union members hold up "I want to work" placards as they join a protest of several thousand people demanding jobs outside City Hall in Los Angeles on August 13, 2010. Even the criminals have fallen on hard times in America’s poorest city as the long-term unemployed struggle to keep a grasp on normality. Richard Gaines is one of the best-known faces on Camden’s... 

Foes want the Obama administration to ban a 1% ‘private transfer’ charge — assessed every time a property is sold for 99 years — paid to investors who backed the home’s original builder. Can you name a housing controversy that pulls Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, consumer advocates, labor unions representing transport workers and government... 

Saying “I told you so” isn’t always a sign of bad manners – not when good news is involved. Well, I did tell you to expect this: China has now raced past Japan to become the world’s number two economy. Just last Christmas I wrote that China would blow past the Chinese economy this year. And so it has. Yi Gang, China’s top currency... 

Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith delivers his speech during the opening of the Australia-Indonesia Facility for Disaster Reduction in Jakarta Australia says it will impose new sanctions on Iran, joining the United States, Canada, European Union, and United Nations. Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said Thursday that the sanctions, aimed at persuading... 

The European Union (EU) on Monday adopted a new round of sanctions against Iran that, if implemented, will have serious implications not only for the EU as the Islamic Republic’s largest trading partner, but also for its energy security. The new European sanctions target Iranian shipping and air cargo companies, impose visa bans on officials and freeze assets linked... 

Goldman Sachs received a $12.9 billion payout from the government's bailout of AIG, which was at one time the world's largest insurance company. Goldman Sachs sent $4.3 billion in federal tax money to 32 entities, including many overseas banks, hedge funds and pensions, according to information made public Friday night. Goldman Sachs disclosed the list of companies... 

Depending on which path the economy takes – the high growth of the mid-1990s, moderate growth or little growth – joblessness could stay high for up to 11 years, a new study for the Center for Economic Policy and Research says. The study’s results prompted Sen. Al Franken and Rep. Keith Ellison, both D-Minn., to demand again that Congress pass legislation... 

Luc Everaert The International Monetary Fund this morning released its latest review of the eurozone economy, a collection of 16 countries that, judging from the report’s conclusions, are becoming the continent’s new Brothers Grimm. Growth is slow — and at risk of getting slower because bank credit has dried up. The banks themselves are undercapitalized... 

What are 308,367,109 Americans supposed to do? First of all, despite clamping down on immigration, our population grew by 2.6M people last year.  Unfortunately, not only did we not create jobs for those 2.6M new people but we lost about 4M jobs so what are these new people going to do? Not only that, but nobody is talking about the another major job issue.  People...