interest rates

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Clinton Wants to Throw $350B at Making College Free, Cheap

Candidate's plan would make community college free, 4-year college 'no loan'

(Newser) - As student debt balloons into an issue in the realms of predatory lending , borrowers' mental health , and even the elderly , politicians continue to brainstorm on making college more affordable. Hillary Clinton's solution: a $350 billion proposal whose goals include making community college free, cutting costs to attend four-year public...

Fed Leaves Interest Rates Unchanged

But most expect that to change later this year

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve says the economy has strengthened since a slump early this year but wants to see further gains in the job market and higher inflation before raising interest rates from record lows. The Fed is giving no timetable for a rate hike but says it expects the economy'...

Fed Drops Word 'Patient,' Still Soothes Investors

Moves closer to a rate increase, but suggests it's not imminent

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve continued its slow dance with Wall Street today about when it will finally raise interest rates, and the bottom line is June at the earliest, reports the Wall Street Journal . However, if jobs and inflation aren't hitting their targets at that point, the Fed would likely...

Interest Rates Won't Be Rising Anytime Soon

Fed wraps up meeting, cuts growth forecast

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve has sharply cut its forecast for US growth this year, reflecting a shrinking economy last quarter caused mostly by harsh weather. At the same time, the Fed has barely increased its estimate of inflation despite signs that consumer price increases are picking up. Its benign inflation outlook...

Europe Tries a Radical Way to Prod Banks

ECB introduces negative interest rates

(Newser) - The European Central Bank today announced that it's giving its banks a kick in the rear to get them to start lending again, by dropping its deposit interest rate to -0.1%. Yes, that's a minus sign—meaning that instead of giving banks interest for holding onto extra...

Janet Yellen Makes Rookie Mistake in Fed Debut

Her 'around 6 months' comment was way too specific, say observers

(Newser) - Janet Yellen is getting a lot of grief over her first news conference as leader of the Federal Reserve for, of all things, speaking too clearly. As Rex Nutting at MarketWatch observes, Yellen spoke for an hour yesterday, "but the market only heard three words: 'around six months....

At 265 Colleges, Loan Default More Likely Than Graduation

Plus: Stafford loan interest rates double

(Newser) - Bad news if you're planning to attend Texas College in the fall: You've got a 38.2% chance of defaulting on your student loans ... and just a 12% chance of graduating. USA Today found 265 colleges and universities across 40 states where the loan default rate is higher...

Bernanke Taking Big Gamble on Policy

Lower dollar stimulates economy but risks trade wars: Allan Sloan

(Newser) - Ben Bernanke's push to keep interest rates low might be stimulating the US economy, but it's also raising the risk of currency wars, writes Allan Sloan at Fortune . "Cutting interest rates faster and more deeply than most other central banks has weakened the dollar against the currencies...

&#39;Free&#39; Checking Accounts: Not So Free Anymore
'Free' Checking Accounts:
Not So Free Anymore
survey says
Sep 24, 2012 10:06 AM CDT

'Free' Checking Accounts: Not So Free Anymore

Plus, credit card companies not passing on low interest rates

(Newser) - Free checking accounts were the norm in the 1990s, but not so anymore: Today just 39% of noninterest checking accounts are free to everyone, down from 76% in 2009 and 45% last year, a new Bankrate survey finds. Some banks are doing away with free checking accounts entirely; some are...

Let&#39;s Spend Like Reagan

 Let's Spend 
 Like Reagan 
Paul Krugman
Jun 8, 2012 1:15 PM CDT

Let's Spend Like Reagan

Krugman: He was a bigger spender than Obama in first years

(Newser) - At this point in his presidency, Ronald Reagan was presiding over a strong recovery, and President Obama clearly is not. The biggest difference? Government spending, writes Paul Krugman in the New York Times . Real per-capita government spending is up 6.4% under Obama, but under Reagan it soared 14.4%....

Trying to Refinance? Take a Number

With fewer banks, mortgage refinancing taking forver

(Newser) - Mortgage rates have been plummeting—they were at just 4.05% last month—and that, combined with Obama administration initiatives, has a lot of homeowners clamoring to refinance. There's just one problem: A lot of homeowners are clamoring to refinance. The financial crisis left fewer banks standing in the...

Bernanke: Full Recovery Years Away

Fed says inflation on target, but unemployment high, growth sluggish

(Newser) - Don't get too excited about that pending economic rebound . The Federal Reserve's announcement it will keep interest rates super-low into 2014 is a key sign that the US economy is years away from truly recovering, reports the New York Times . Yes, the economy has picked up "moderately,...

What's Up With Ron Paul's 'Austrian' Ideas?

Republican candidate trumpets strict libertarian philosophy

(Newser) - Just what did Ron Paul mean when he finished third in Iowa and said, "We are all Austrians now"? Republican candidates don't often celebrate European economic policies, but this is different, Matthew Yglesias writes in Slate . Those familiar with the inside baseball of libertarianism know that Paul...

Fed Panel Split Over Bernanke's Low Rates Policy

It's the most a chairman has faced in 19 years

(Newser) - Ben Bernanke's Tuesday announcement that the Fed is prepared to keep short-term interest rates close to zero for at least two more years is facing internal revolt from the Federal Open Market Committee, the 12-member committee of Fed presidents and governors that sets monetary policy, reports the Wall Street ...

Stock Rally Stutters
 Stock Rally Stutters 
Aug 10, 2011 4:38 AM CDT

Stock Rally Stutters

Falling futures mean we're not out of the woods

(Newser) - Global stocks were up early today following an uptick on Wall Street in the wake of the Fed's pledge to keep interest rates low. But it wasn't clear if the rebound would hold. Asia rates climbed and modest hikes marked Britain's FTSE 100 index (up .2%) and...

Second Phase of Double-Dip Recession Could Be Even Worse
Brace Yourself for Even
Worse 2nd Recession
analysis
Aug 8, 2011 8:33 AM CDT

Brace Yourself for Even Worse 2nd Recession

Could devastate a still-ailing economy, writes Catherine Rampell

(Newser) - Economists say we could be headed for a second recession—and if they’re right, it’s poised to be even more devastating than the first, writes Catherine Rampell in the New York Times . That’s because the starting point for the second dip would be our current weak economy,...

Sorry, Our Economy Has Never Been on the Mend

Washington better get focused on jobs fast: Paul Krugman

(Newser) - For far too long, we’ve been preoccupied with “the wrong worries,” focusing on the deficit when we should have been working on job creation, writes Paul Krugman in the New York Times . Now we’re seeing the fallout from that misguidedness. “Those plunging interest rates and...

Fed Keeps Rates Low; Bernanke to Face Media

Ben Bernanke will host the Fed's first news conference on policy

(Newser) - No surprises from the Fed today: Rates are staying low, and its $600 billion bond-buying program remains on track to end in June, reports MarketWatch . The Fed sees the economic recovery moving at a "moderate pace" and downplayed the risks of inflation. Far more interesting will be Ben Bernanke'...

Banks Profited by Loaning Fed Money Back to ... Feds

They charged bigger interest rates on cheap money from Uncle Sam

(Newser) - Crisis-walloped banks aided with federal loans likely made a fortune by lending the same money back to the federal government at substantially higher interest rates, a new report indicates. The study by the Congressional Research Service supports complaints that the largest banks essentially engaged in taxpayer-financed arbitrage by cashing in...

Your Future Bill for the National Debt: $2,500 a Year

... actually, that'll just cover the interest

(Newser) - The next decade will see interest payments on the national debt quadruple, forcing every American to essentially pay more than $2,500 yearly, the Washington Post finds in a look at President Obama’s budget plan. That means that starting in 2014, net interest payments will exceed spending on all...

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