Patrice Hill

IMF eyes ‘Plan B’ for reforming itself without U.S.

The International Monetary Fund has a "Plan B" for proceeding with reforms giving greater powers to developing countries even though the U.S. Congress hasn't approved them, but it is not ready to take that route yet, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said Thursday. Published April 10, 2014

Russia, China leading efforts to bypass U.S. as IMF reforms stall on Capitol Hill

Russia, China and other major developing countries — angry about the stalemate on Capitol Hill that has blocked approval of a reform plan that would give them a bigger voting share at the International Monetary Fund — are pushing to go ahead with the reforms without waiting for the United States. Published April 6, 2014

Jobs: U.S. private sector finally makes up recession’s losses

American businesses created another 192,000 jobs last month and more than a half million workers surged back into the labor force to find jobs amid signs of a rebound in hiring after a long, cold winter, the Labor Department reported Friday. Published April 4, 2014

Economic Cold War?: Weapons in Russia standoff more likely to shed treasure than blood

Although the United States has ruled out open military conflict in response to Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, some see growing risks that the two former superpower rivals could sink into a kind of economic Cold War. Published March 31, 2014

Russia’s price to pay: Investor exodus not sanctions threatens country

Russia is paying a heavy price for its annexation of Crimea, with its financial markets crashing, economic growth falling, and foreign investors and citizens pulling money out of the country at a frenetic pace. Published March 24, 2014

Economists: Increasing immigration is one of the ways to spark growth

One of the best ways to spark stronger growth in the economy, economists say, is to increase immigration. Published March 19, 2014

Is economic growth stuck in low gear the new normal?

The potential annual growth rate in the U.S. has downshifted because of an aging population, reduced immigration, growing income inequality and other factors. Published March 19, 2014

Yellen’s Fed votes for ‘modest’ easing of stimulus

The Federal Reserve Wednesday said it will continue easing its stimulus program for the economy, cutting its purchases of U.S. Treasury and mortgage bonds by another $10 billion a month. Published March 19, 2014

Administration sees crisis in Ukraine as opportunity to pass IMF reforms

The crisis in Ukraine has unexpectedly breathed new life in the Obama administration's stalled efforts to pass legislation reforming the International Monetary Fund in Congress this year. Published March 12, 2014

Employers add 175K in February; unemployment rose to 6.7 percent

Unemployment ticked up to 6.7 percent last month despite a better-than-expected increase of 175,000 jobs that defied a spate of severe winter weather. the Labor Department reported Friday. Published March 7, 2014

Chevron scores court win in $9B Ecuador rainforest case

The U.S. District Court in Manhattan on Tuesday handed Chevron Corp. a major victory in its decades-long battle over pollution in the Amazon rain forest, declaring an Ecuadorean court ruling unenforceable in the U.S. Published March 4, 2014

Moscow shakes up the financial world

Global markets swooned Monday as Russian soldiers secured control over Ukraine's Crimean peninsula, while the threat of trade sanctions against Moscow from the West over the crisis sent oil prices soaring and the ruble plummeting. Published March 3, 2014

Siberian shale find fuels Russia’s fracking future

Russia is showing the world that it does things in a big way at the Sochi Olympics. Now, at the opposite end of the vast country, Russia is aiming to be the next big player in the global shale oil revolution. Published February 18, 2014

Comcast acquisition deal for Time Warner primed to transform the cable box

Comcast Corp.'s blockbuster $45.2 billion deal to acquire top rival Time Warner Cable will further transform the cable landscape, creating the first national cable network and presenting new challenges for rivals, regulators and viewers from Los Angeles to New York City. Published February 13, 2014

Bad weather slams retail sales

Extremely cold and snowy weather inhibited America’s shoppers last month, causing a 0.4 percent drop in retail sales, and the Christmas selling season was poorer than previously reported, the Census Bureau reported on Thursday. Published February 13, 2014

Markets rally on Yellen’s pledge to end easy-money policies

Janet Yellen, in her first appearance before Congress as the new chair of the Federal Reserve, sparked a major rally in global financial markets Tuesday by pledging to stick with her predecessor Ben S. Bernanke’s plan to gradually end the easy-money policies put in place during the recession. Published February 11, 2014

U.S. job market ‘has started 2014 with whimper,’ analyst says

The nation's unemployment rate slipped to 6.6 percent last month as employers added a tepid 113,000 new jobs, the Labor Department reported Friday. Published February 9, 2014

Unemployment down to 6.6 percent amid slower job growth

The nation's unemployment rate slipped to 6.6 percent last month as employers added a tepid 113,000 new jobs, the Labor Department reported Friday. Published February 7, 2014

Moody’s not worried about U.S. defaulting on debt

Moody's Investors Service, one of Wall Street's three top credit raters, said Wednesday that it expects the U.S. Treasury to keep paying its debts on time even though it will run out of borrowing authority on Friday. Published February 5, 2014

Henry Paulson, ‘Mr. Bailout,’ fears a new finance crisis is brewing

Henry M. Paulson Jr., the financial firefighter stationed at the epicenter of the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression, worries that the nation is headed for another crisis because political leaders failed to learn critical lessons from the last one from 2008. Published February 4, 2014