#Economy

The Senate Monday voted 56-26 to confirm Federal Reserve Vice Chair Janet Yellen as the Fed’s next chairman. Yellen, who will be the first woman to serve in that position, will succeed Ben Bernanke.In nominating her last fall, President Obama…

WASHINGTON--Elected officials must follow up the new two-year budget deal with much larger efforts to put the nation’s finances on sounder long-term footing, according to Robert L. Bixby, executive director of The Concord Coalition.“The question is whether this is the…

Extending emergency unemployment compensation for another year would add 200,000 jobs but carries a price tag of $25 billion, according to an analysis released recently by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). (more…)

Although Janet L. Yellen is expected to win confirmation as the next chairman of the Federal Reserve, lawmakers in both parties took advantage of her recent congressional appearance to express various concerns about slow economic growth and the Fed’s efforts…

A halt in small business loans, lost tourism to national parks, and even a delay in the Alaskan crab season were among the costly effects of last month’s government shutdown, according to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).An OMB…

Although the federal deficit fell sharply over the last year as the economic recovery continued, this good news should not be used as an excuse to ignore the serious fiscal challenges that Washington still needs to confront.The deficit for Fiscal…

Fitch Ratings placed the United State’s AAA credit rating on “Rating Watch Negative” last week, due to the increased risk of a default on the government’s financial obligations from the debt ceiling standoff.Fitch said in its statement that repeated brinkmanship…

The federal debt limit is actually a case of mistaken identity, according to Concord Coalition Executive Director Robert L. Bixby.“While you would think that a ‘debt limit’ would exert control over the nation’s fiscal policies, it does not,” he says…