In his speech on Wednesday, Gov. Martin O’Malley said that the state of the state is strong. The same words could be used to describe the state of officials’ reaction to it. Political and civic leaders had a variety of responses to the governor’s 33-minute speech describing the condition and challenges facing Maryland, but they [...]

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Greece’s Alpha Bank on Monday, Jan 30, froze merger talks with Eurobank pending the conclusion of tough negotiations between the government and private creditors on a huge sovereign debt write-down. “The bank intends to await the finalization of the terms of the (debt write-down) and shall then convene the bank’s general meeting of shareholders, so [...]

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Environment Secretary Robert Summers told Eastern Shore lawmakers the Bay Restoration Fund needs an additional $385 million to upgrade 67 sewage treatment plants in Maryland and echoed Gov. Martin O’Malley’s call to double the flush tax to $60 a year. Del. Michael Smigiel, R-Caroline, challenged Summers on the fairness of the tax to rural Marylanders. [...]

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About 450,000 Maryland households that earn more than $100,000 per year will see their state and local income taxes go up next year if the legislature approves Gov. Martin O’Malley’s budget proposal. In order to balance an overall $35.8 billion state budget – a 3% increase over last year – O’Malley is asking to cap [...]

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  1. The government collected less in taxes in 2010 than it has in over three generations, and tax rates are at historic lows. 2. The Bush tax cuts added $1.7 trillion to the nation’s debt over 2001-2008, which is more than it would cost to send 24 million kids to four-year public universities. 3. Corporate income taxes totaled about 1 percent of GDP [...]

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John Irons, Research and Policy Director at the Economic Policy Institute, released the following statement on the proposed House Republican 2012 budget, which Representative Paul Ryan unveiled today: The Chairman of the House Committee on the Budget, Republican Paul Ryan, released a proposed budget for fiscal year 2012 that rehashes failed economic thinking and the [...]

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Are you interested in getting a GIC? Here’s how you can get the best interest rate. A guaranteed investment certificate is a financial instrument that allows you to invest your money without exposing you to the risks of losing value like with mutual funds or stocks. There are many financial institutions in Canada which offer [...]

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The euro zone will most likely hold together but still has to take decisive action to resolve its debt crisis, British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Monday, Jan 9. Asked if he thought the euro zone would remain intact, Cameron told Sky News: “I think the most likely outcome is yes, it will hold together, but [...]

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U.S. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romneytold an Italian newspaper that Europe must solve the euro zone debt crisis without any help from the United States, Reuters reports. “The U.S. must take care of its own crisis, and won’t give a dollar to save Europe,” Romney told La Stampa. Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, said he [...]

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The American economy has gone away. It is not coming back until free trade myths are buried six feet under. America’s 20th century economic success was based on two things. Free trade was not one of them. America’s economic success was based on protectionism, which was ensured by the union victory in the Civil War, [...]

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While our politicians have heralded the recently approved Korea-U.S. free trade agreement (KORUS) as a job creator, outside observers have been skeptical. Most studies of the pact say KORUS’ impact will be negative, and another major group has recently come out against it. The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), which represents over 175 million workers [...]

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Most statistics show that “free trade” in the United States has done nothing but harm over the past two decades. In spite of this, American leaders continue to endorse these pacts, falsely claiming they are beneficial to the struggling economy. But there is already plenty of evidence to show that entering into more of these [...]

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Funding from private organizations and programs continues to hold major influence in campaigns and elections, thanks to the highly controversial Citizens United vs. FEC decision from early 2010. Many tax-exempt 501(c) organizations are concealing the identities of their donors, thus attracting generous assets to contribute to political advocates. These types of boosted campaigns had a [...]

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The influence of big corporations on our elections and our policies sits at a staggeringly high level. More and more Americans are disillusioned with our government, and more and more of them are realizing that corporate influence has a lot to do with their displeasure. As a result, there have been repeated calls for reform [...]

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A former director of the World Trade Organization has stated that China’s presence in the WTO is both “essential” and “irreversible,” while applauding the steps the country has taken since joining. If this is representative of the low standards of conduct the WTO expects, it is all the more reason the U.S. needs to rid [...]

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Unemployment in the United States has fallen to its lowest rate since March of 2009, registering at 8.6 percent for November. But as encouraging as this sounds, it is not an absolute indicator that a recovery has commenced. In order to regain economic prowess on a global scale, the U.S. needs to turn its attention [...]

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Last year around Thanksgiving time I forecasted the what cost of a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for ten people would be in 2011, in an article titled Inflation and the Cost of Thanksgiving Dinner. The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) tracks the annual price of turkeys, sweet potatoes, cranberries, stuffing, and pumpkin pie, along with some of [...]

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Unemployment in the United States is damaging the economy on two different fronts. The unemployment picture in America continues to sit at an unacceptably high level. And, those actually returning to the workforce are given no choice but to take lower wage positions. These problems are a direct result of job losses due to disastrous [...]

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After months of extreme opposition from its Democratic Party (DP), South Korea approved the pending Korean-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS). The ruling Grand National Party forced the legislation to be put to vote, and it was overwhelmingly passed, 151 to 7.  Opponents of the pact were infuriated, however, and quickly turned the National Assembly into [...]

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The United States lost yet another case decided by the World Trade Organization (WTO) today. The WTO dispute panel ruled in favor of Mexico and Canada in saying that U.S. country of origin labeling laws (COOL) constituted an unfair trade protection against foreign producers. This is just the latest in a long line of losses [...]

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