Fiscal Cliff

Budget Battles

  • Dismal GDP Adds Desperation to a Divided Congress

    By Josh Boak, The Fiscal Times

    The economy grew at a dismal 1.5 percent in the second quarter, a cruel reminder that nearly everything tried so far—tax cuts, deficit spending, austerity at the state level, slashed interest rates—...

  • Big Banks' Glory Days Could Be Gone for Good

    By JED HOROWITZ, Reuters

    The summer of 2012 may be remembered as the time when regulation, scandals and a protracted slow-growth economy finally caught up with big American banks.

  • How to Turn a Tax Increase into a Tax Cut

    By Bruce Bartlett, The Fiscal Times

    Talk about the so-called fiscal cliff has been shifting lately, away from the potential negative effects when a number tax cuts expire of toward the idea that this is a potential opportunity to...

  • Disability Benefit Program Is Going Broke

    By Josh Boak, The Fiscal Times

    Created decades ago to help those unable to work because of severe health problems, the $128 billion Social Security Disability program stops many from sliding into total poverty and inflicting...

  • Fear Rules the Market: Time to Take on Risk?

    By Suzanne McGee, The Fiscal Times

    Every so often, an event organized by a big financial services conglomerate primarily to promote a product it has developed can provide some interesting food for thought – and the UBS-sponsored...