Bloomberg - March 24 (Bloomberg) — Seven months before Election Day,
rising home foreclosures, shrinking financial assets andgasoline approaching a record $4 a gallon are daily remindersthat the U.S. economy may be the worst in almost 30 years.
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AP - Congress should cut short its spring break to work on proposals this week that would tighten regulation of investment banks and help people facing foreclosure, a Republican senator said Sunday.
“On the economy, I think more has to be done,” Pennsylvania’s Arlen Specter said. “It would show that there is concern by the Congress […]

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It’s been almost an article of faith: Any recession this year will be mild and brief. But now the stunning meltdown of a top Wall Street investment bank and stubbornly persistent financial market turbulence has called that into question, raising fears that severe problems in housing and the nation’s bedrock financial system could cripple the […]

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Wired News
As the mortgage and financial crisis continues to notch more victims, the question on many economists’ minds is not whether a recession will happen, but how deep it will get and how long it will last. But one prominent voice thinks the high-flying finance industry isn’t going to bounce back — and that we’ll […]

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Prospective home buyers would get easier-to-understand information on mortgage terms and save an average $700 in closing costs under a proposal to be unveiled Friday by President Bush.
The proposed overhaul to a 1974 law requiring lenders to give what’s called a “good faith estimate” is aimed at making it simpler for consumers […]

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Florida’s economy worsened in January when 7,300 workers lost their jobs, resulting mostly from a construction industry bogged down as a result of a plunging housing market.
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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — In the clearest suggestion yet of a recession, U.S. nonfarm payrolls fell by 63,000 in February, the second straight decline, the Labor Department reported Friday.
“Turn out the lights the party’s over,” wrote Joseph Brusuelas, U.S. chief economist for IDEAglobal. “We are in a recession.”
It was the largest drop in payrolls since March […]

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FT.com - The American economic outlook remains highly uncertain. But macro­economic policy is now properly aligned, as the economy will benefit over the next several quarters from fiscal and monetary stimulus. To the extent conditions warrant and inflation risks permit, monetary and fiscal policy are appropriately poised to provide further stimulus.
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