Marilyn Geewax

Marilyn Geewax appears in the following:

The Washington Two-Step: Dancing Back To Normal

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Time and again, business leaders say the one thing they want out of Washington is more certainty.

But rarely do they get their wish.

In recent years, business owners have found themselves wondering whether their government would default on its debts, shut down national parks, change tax rules, cancel supplier ...

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Prices Are Low, And That Could Be Bad

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

2.

That's the number the Federal Reserve Board's policymakers wanted to see this year. Having an annual inflation rate of 2 percent would confirm that the U.S. economy is strengthening — workers are getting raises and companies are seeing enough customer demand to mark up prices.

But the 2 percent ...

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General Motors CEO: In The Bailout, Fair Is Fair

Monday, December 16, 2013

Retiring General Motors CEO Dan Akerson made a case Monday for how losing should feel like winning — at least for U.S. taxpayers who lost more than $10 billion in a GM bailout.

Akerson, who spoke at a National Press Club luncheon, said that if the federal government had allowed ...

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Extended Unemployment Benefits On Track To Expire Dec. 28

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Unless Congress acts very quickly, some 1.3 million workers will lose their extended jobless benefits on Dec. 28.

Democrats were scrambling late Wednesday to link an extension of benefits to a budget deal that is expected to get a vote as soon as Thursday. But if the effort fails, they ...

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GM Gives A Woman The Keys To Drive Its Future

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

She's not the first woman to head a global corporation.

Ginni Rometty runs IBM, and Indra Nooyi heads PepsiCo. Don't forget Ursula Burns at Xerox and Meg Whitman at Hewlett-Packard. There's Marissa Mayer at Yahoo.

Still, when Mary Barra emerged on Tuesday as the new chief executive of General ...

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Economists Toast 20 Years Of NAFTA; Critics Sit Out The Party

Sunday, December 08, 2013

Twenty years ago, millions of Americans were cocking their ears — waiting to hear a "giant sucking sound."

They feared Mexico would begin vacuuming up U.S. manufacturing jobs as soon as President Clinton signed the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, on Dec. 8, 1993.

The "sucking sound" famously ...

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For Workers, A Week Stuffed With Good News

Friday, December 06, 2013

Here's something you haven't heard in years: The U.S. economy had a great week.

In recent days, government and industry reports have showed auto and new-home sales are surging, manufacturing is strengthening and the trade deficit is narrowing. And the U.S. growth rate shot to

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What Really Got Measured In This Month's Jobs Report?

Friday, November 08, 2013

In October, private employers did a lot of hiring, but a government shutdown forced hundreds of thousands of workers to stay home.

Those federal furloughs offset 204,000 jobs created last month — enough to push the unemployment rate one tick higher to 7.3 percent, the Labor Department said on ...

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Supporters Say Minimum Wage Hike Gaining Support

Wednesday, November 06, 2013

On many economic issues, Americans are deeply divided. But when it comes to giving pay raises to minimum wage workers, voters overwhelmingly say: Do it.

That message jumped out Tuesday when more than 6 in 10 voters in New Jersey approved an increase in their state's minimum hourly wage. In ...

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More Foreign Firms Look To Make It In The USA

Thursday, October 31, 2013

When many Americans hear the word "globalization," they think: "jobs going overseas."

And sometimes it does mean just that.

But as globalization knits nations closer together, foreign companies increasingly are creating jobs in the United States, not luring them away. Despite the Great Recession, slow recovery and political dysfunction in ...

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Why The Fed Decided Not To Change Course

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Look around. Do you see much inflation?

Gas prices are down more than 7 percent from last year. Grocery costs haven't budged lately. And — just in time for Halloween — the price of candy is down 2.3 percent from last year, according to the government's consumer price index ...

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Job Growth Was Disappointing, But Some See Reasons For Hope

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

When it finally came out Tuesday, the September jobs report — delayed for 18 days by the government shutdown — showed a labor market moving forward. But the pace was slow enough to prompt many economists to view it as a letdown.

Job growth "is disappointing, given that employment ...

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Maybe 'Muddling Through' Isn't That Bad For The Economy

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

When the global financial system started to collapse five years ago, leaders from the Treasury Department, Congress and the Federal Reserve jumped up and started running.

Like men on a burning wooden bridge, they raced along, making crazy-fast decisions. They seized Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, bailed out big ...

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Trucker Shortage Worsens As Energy Sector Booms

Monday, September 02, 2013

When goods arrive in Houston, they may come in containers stacked high on huge ships or strung out on long lines of rail cars. But to get to the customer, those goods need to be put on trucks and driven to their final destinations.

And now with the oil and ...

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More Americans Are In The Mood To Travel For Labor Day

Friday, August 30, 2013

After years of sticking close to home, more Americans are eager to shake off the recession's remnants and have a final summer adventure, according to experts who track travel.

"We've noticed that vacation plans increased quite a bit in August," compared with June, said Chris Christopher, an economist who focuses ...

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Pent-Up Demand Is Boosting Home Sales, But Can It Last?

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Six years ago, the U.S. housing market plunged off a cliff. Now prices are bouncing back up — sharply in many markets.

That has some real estate analysts saying 2013 may mark the turning point — when pent-up demand will revive the housing sector and boost the broader ...

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DOJ Suit Seen Delaying, Not Killing Big Airline Merger

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

The government's decision Tuesday to oppose the merger of US Airways and American Airlines stunned airline analysts, but many predicted the deal eventually will win go through.

"Given that other airline mergers were approved, this was a surprise," University of Richmond transportation economist George Hoffer said. Other major carriers already ...

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U.S. Job Growth Slows A Bit As Wages Shrink

Friday, August 02, 2013

Employers added 162,000 workers in July, and the U.S. unemployment rate slipped to 7.4 percent, the lowest level since December 2008, the Labor Department said Friday.

But while the number of jobs did increase, the hiring pace was slower than in the spring, marking a setback for unemployed Americans ...

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As Back-To-School Shopping Begins, Consumers May Turn Frugal

Thursday, August 01, 2013

As August begins, retailers are stepping up sales promotions to attract back-to-school shoppers. And several states are offering tax-free shopping to encourage purchases.

But most economists say this year's sales will be slower than last summer's because consumers have been coping with more expensive gasoline and higher payroll taxes.

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As Obama Renews Jobs Push, How Is The Economy Doing?

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

The U.S. economy has been growing for four straight years — each under the leadership of President Obama.

But the pace of improvement has been disappointing to many, especially the nearly 12 million people still looking for work.

Americans are divided about how to view the White House's economic record. ...

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