In one way, the so-called fiscal cliff threatening the U.S. economy is less dangerous than widely supposed. In another, it’s more. First, as many have said, the cliff is really a slope. At year’s end, the tax cuts passed in 2001 and 2003 automatically expire, and a deliberately brainless process of sequestration starts to cut […]
economy
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Bernanke warns Congress: Find deal, avoid ‘fiscal cliff’
WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Tuesday urged Congress and the Obama administration to strike a budget deal to avert tax increases and spending cuts that could trigger a recession next year. Without a deal, the measures known as the “fiscal cliff” will take effect in January. Bernanke also said Congress must raise […]
advertisement
Posted inBusiness, sj-web
Five economic trends to be thankful for
There is a dirty little secret about economics writing. The thing that offers the surest path to glory to front page play for a story, to lots of Web traffic, to a pat on the back from editors is doom and gloom. When we can point out something that is awful, whether it is a […]
Posted inLetters
T. Pelletier: Tax cuts for not-so-small business
President Obama has been re-elected, at least in part because of his support for small business. Of course, Gov. Romney also claimed to be a champion of small business, and yet the two candidates offered very different economic plans. How do we explain the discrepancy? A lot of it depends on what a politician means […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Obama powers to re-election despite weak economy
WASHINGTON (AP) — His lease renewed in trying economic times, President Barack Obama claimed a second term from an incredibly divided electorate and immediately braced for daunting challenges and progress that comes only in fits and starts. “We have fought our way back and we know in our hearts that for the United States of […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Exit polls find hint of economic optimism
WASHINGTON (AP) — Barack Obama and Mitt Romney made sharply different bets about who would vote this year. It turned out that Americans who cast ballots looked collectively much more like what Obama had envisioned — a diverse tapestry that reflected a changing America — than the whiter, older electorate Romney had banked on. Younger voters and minorities came […]
Posted inMaine
Maine ranked second-worst state for making a living
LEWISTON — For the second year in a row, Maine is ranked second-worst, after Hawaii, in the country for making a living, according to the finance website MoneyRates.com. Maine also ranked eighth among the 10 worst states in which to retire, according to MoneyRates. The rankings, combined with a Gallup poll released in August […]
Posted inMaine
Economist: Cheap, dirty coal key cause of Maine’s energy woes
LEWISTON — A former Maine state economist said late Wednesday that cheap, dirty coal and the federal government’s unwillingness to enact a carbon pollution tax are the primary reasons Mainers pay more for power than most other Americans. Charles Colgan, associate director of the University of Maine’s Center for Business and Economic Research, was responding […]
Posted inBusiness
Meals and lodging sales post big increases in August
AUGUSTA — After a worrying July, August’s taxable sales figures in tourism-related sectors beat projections and capped a strong summer tourism season, according to figures released Friday by Maine Revenue Services. Lodging sales in August were $157 million, up 7.5 percent from the same month last year, while August restaurant sales equaled nearly $270 million, […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Remodeling resurgence: Contractors see boost from uptick in housing market
NEW YORK — Glenn Bridges can tell that the market for home remodeling is picking up — when he’s hanging cabinets or laying a floor in a customer’s house, a next-door neighbor is bound to knock on the door and ask if he’s available for another project. They’ll look at his handiwork and then say, […]