Geithner joins the Council on Foreign Relations
New York (CNNMoney) - Former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will join the Council on Foreign Relations later this month as a distinguished fellow, the New York-based think tank announced Thursday.
Geithner has a masters in international economics and much of his early career focused on that field. He had been under secretary of Treasury for international affairs during the Clinton administration, moving to CFR as a senior fellow in 2001, and then onto the International Monetary Fund later that year.
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Obama's mixed record on trade
New York (CNNMoney) - Is U.S. trade better now than it was four years ago?
Like so many economic issues swirling around this year's presidential election, the answer is not clear cut.
FULL STORYBush wishes his name wasn't attached to tax cuts
New York (CNNMoney) - Former President George W. Bush said Tuesday he wishes his name wasn't so firmly attached to one of his administration's signature pieces of legislation - the broad-based tax cuts set to expire at the end of this year.
"I wish they weren't called the Bush tax cuts. If they were called someone else's tax cuts, they'd be less likely to be raised," he said in introductory remarks at a conference at the Bush Presidential Center, which he opened after leaving office.
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Payroll tax deadlock could hobble economy
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) - If Congress fails to pass an extension of the payroll tax holiday, it would put a serious dent into economic growth in 2012 and could even help tip the U.S. back into a recession, according to economists.
Economists surveyed by CNNMoney on Tuesday said that gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the nation's economic health, could be about 0.4 percentage points lower in the first quarter if Congress doesn't extend the measure which lowered payroll taxes this past year.
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Taxes you'll still pay under Cain's 9-9-9 plan
New York (CNNMoney) - Herman Cain's tax proposals have rocketed him to the top of the pack in the fight for the Republican presidential nomination.
But while his now-famous 9-9-9 tax plan would scrap the current tax structure in favor of a more simplified system, $90 billion in various federal taxes and fees would still be left intact.
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Herman Cain's 9-9-9 tax plan: Break for the rich?
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) - Herman Cain has a plan to radically reform the nation's tax system and make things a lot simpler for taxpayers.
Problem is, it could end up adding to the deficit and shifting the tax burden away from the wealthy and onto the poor, according to some leading tax experts.
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How 'The Donald' could incite a trade war
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) - Donald Trump's call for a 25% tariff on Chinese goods is winning him a lot of attention as he weighs a presidential run in 2012.
But Trump seems to be overlooking the consequences that his economic policy would likely trigger - a destructive trade war and higher prices, according to some experts.
FULL STORYEconomy grinds to near halt
New York (CNNMoney.com) - The U.S. economy sputtered to a near stop in the second quarter, according to new estimates from the government released Friday, although the slowdown wasn't as bad as many had feared.
The nation's gross domestic product, the broadest measure on the amount of spending by consumers, businesses and government, was revised sharply lower to an annual growth rate of 1.6% in the three months ending in June. The initial reading had been for a 2.4% growth rate in the period.
The report fed into growing fears that the nation could be at risk of a new economic downturn known as a double-dip recession. While the economy is still growing, growth of less than 2% is considered too weak to prompt businesses to start hiring again.
Bernanke: Economy better, but ...
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/01/13/art.bernanke.gi.jpg caption="Bernanke told lawmakers Tuesday that the economy has started to show signs of stabilization."]NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told lawmakers Tuesday that the economy has started to show signs of stabilization, although he cautioned that improvement is uncertain and likely to be gradual going forward.
Bernanke also reiterated that the Fed will be able to keep inflation at bay by unwinding many of the various lending programs it has put in place to encourage banks to start lending again. But he declined to give a time frame for when the Fed might begin its so-called exit strategy.
The head of the central bank, appearing before the House Financial Services Committee in his semi-annual testimony on the state of the economy, forecast a relatively sluggish recovery.
Bernanke said the unemployment rate would be higher than preferred levels until at least 2012. But he added that steps taken by the Fed to pump money into the economy have started to pay benefits.
Obama will struggle to create jobs
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/11/05/obamajobs.jpg caption="Obama at an economic summit last month."]
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Here's the challenge facing President-elect Barack Obama as he weighs how to create more jobs: another half-million jobs likely will be lost between now and Inauguration Day.
That's not even counting the 200,000 jobs that economists believe employers trimmed last month, according to estimates from Briefing.com. The October jobs report will be released this Friday.
The unemployment rate is expected to climb to 6.3% from 6.1%, which would match the worst reading of the decade. And economists all seem to agree the worst is yet to come.
At some point next year the unemployment rate is forecast to pass 7%, a level not seen since 1993.
And the job losses of 200,000 or more a month are expected to be the norm, not the exception, in the coming months, as the full impact of the credit crisis is felt more keenly on Main Street.
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