Just in case we needed more evidence of the hardship inflicted by the country’s devastating economic crisis, earlier this month we got it: more Americans than ever are receiving food stamps. The Department of Agriculture reported that 35.1 million people relied on government help to buy groceries in June — 713,000 more than in the previous month and a 22% jump from the previous year’s figure
Tag Archives: economic
Rise in Oil Prices Due to Post-QE2 Speculative Investing?
Here we go again: the spike in global oil prices that preceded the Great Recession is being repeated. Just three years ago, the price of oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange hit $100 per bbl.
Lima’s Lure
The headquarters of Peru’s Interbank are hard to miss. While the building is not the tallest in the capital, Lima, it is the most entertaining on the city’s otherwise drab main drag.
Aldi: A Grocer for the Recession
Just past noon, Anna Chernova, a 68-year-old retiree, pushed her black metal shopping cart into an Aldi store here. After arriving from Russia 16 years ago, Chernova regularly shopped at conventional supermarkets like Dominick’s and Jewel, but no more
Lebanon-Israel Tensions Rise over Offshore Oil and Gas
For most countries, the existence of a massive fossil-fuel deposit within its sovereign territory would be gratefully welcomed as an economic windfall. But the delight in Israel at the recent giant gas discovery off its northern coastline is tempered by the knowledge that it could provide the spark to ignite the next war between the Jewish state and its mortal foe to the north, Lebanon’s militant Shi’ite Hizballah.
Spain: Can Zapatero’s Exit Redeem the Socialist Party?
In an attempt to stop the downward spiral of support for his ruling Socialist party, Spanish Prime Minister Jos Luis Rodrguez Zapatero ended months of speculation by announcing on Saturday that he will not seek re-election after completing his second four-year term next March. Now high-ranking members of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party will jockey for the job if, as expected, a primary is held after regional and local elections on May 22.
Obama Averted Disaster, but Getting Credit’s the Hard Part
The New Republic recently asked an intriguing question about the U.S.
UNITED NATIONS: The Third World and Its Wants
The struggle has been defined variously as rich v. poor, Southern Hemisphere v
Social Media: Facebook Cozies Up to Obama and Congress
In early March, Barack and Michelle Obama appeared in an exclusive Facebook video from the White House. The topic was bullying prevention, and it was by far the highest profile in the series of online conversations the social-media behemoth has produced with various members of Congress and federal and state officials in recent months.
The Debt Dilemma
Leaders of democracies, like bear wranglers at the circus, must be experts at reading moods.