Retailers reported dismal sales figures for December on Thursday as even Wal-Mart Stores, one of the bright spots in the industry, finally buckled under the pressures of the deteriorating economy. ...more

January 9, 2009

Wall Street capped a shortened trading week with a mixed finish Thursday after some uneven economic data: news of a contraction in the nation's services sector and a tame reading on employment. But stocks still had their third dismal week in a row, with the major indexes again posting losses as worries about rising oil prices and the fallout from the credit crisis dogged the market. ...more

July 4, 2008

If you've been listening to Mike Huckabee or John Edwards on the presidential trail, you may have heard that the U.S. is becoming a nation of rising inequality and shrinking opportunity. We'd refer those campaigns to a new study of income mobility by the Treasury Department that exposes those claims as so much populist hokum. ...more

November 15, 2007