Useful Info

In 1884, Charles Henry Dow averaged the closing prices of 11 stocks he considered representative of the strength of the U.S. economy in a paper that preceded The Wall Street Journal. By 1896, The Wall Street Journal was publishing this average on a regular basis, and the most famous indicator of stock market performance was born: the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA or Dow)."

Few Aspects of Economy Have as Much Effect on Spending, Saving Throughout much of the past decade, the Federal Reserve has relied on its control of short-term interest rates to influence economic activity. Some would even say that it has made some fairly unconventional moves: Like cutting the federal funds rate 11 times in 2001.

Over the past few months, there has been substantial debate in Congress over raising the ceiling on the national debt. This is an important discussion, but it is hardly new — Congress has raised the debt ceiling 74 times since 1962.

On November 23, the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction – also known as the “Super Committee” -- will issue its recommendations on how to deal with our nation’s economic problems. As the Committee members work on a plan, I have two recommendations for its members: focus on job creation and develop a balanced approach that will result in real deficit reduction. President Obama has proposed...