Government debt
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen speaks during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing to examine the FY 2022 budget request for the Treasury Department, Wednesday, June 23, 2021, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Greg Nash/Pool via AP)
Yellen: Failure to raise debt limit would be 'catastrophic'

By Martin Crutsinger Jun. 23, 2021 04:28 PM EDT

A person walks along a hallway of Milan's Statale University, northern Italy, Monday, June 21, 2021. Backed by 261 billion euros from the EU and Italian government, the country’s recovery plan calls for a top-to-bottom shakeup of a major industrial economy long hampered by red tape, a fear of change, and bureaucratic and educational inertia. Leading the charge is Premier Mario Draghi, the former head of the European Central Bank, who was tapped as head of a national unity government specifically for his economic expertise and institutional knowledge both in Italy and the EU. A key target is keeping more young Italians from taking their know-how abroad, a perennial issue in Italy, which has one of the lowest rates of university graduates in Europe and one of the largest brain drains. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
Can pandemic recovery plan end Italy's years of stagnation?

By David Mchugh And Colleen Barry Jun. 23, 2021 02:56 AM EDT

President Joe Biden tours the Cuyahoga Community College Manufacturing Technology Center, Thursday, May 27, 2021, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Biden's $6T budget: Social spending, taxes on business

By Andrew Taylor May. 29, 2021 12:01 AM EDT

President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the economy at the Cuyahoga Community College Metropolitan Campus, Thursday, May 27, 2021, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Biden's $6T budget: Social spending, taxes on business

By Andrew Taylor May. 28, 2021 02:51 PM EDT

Dan Mehan, president and CEO of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, stands outside the chamber's office near the state Capitol in Jefferson City, Missouri, on May 24, 2021. The chamber supported Gov. Mike Parson's decision to use $300 million of federal coronavirus relief funds to shore up the state's unemployment insurance trust fund. (AP Photo/David A. Lieb)
States tap federal aid to shore up empty unemployment funds

By David A. Lieb May. 27, 2021 11:49 AM EDT

FILE - In this Dec. 1, 2020 file photo, Chairman of the Federal Reserve Jerome Powell appears before the Senate Banking Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington. Powell says the economic outlook has “clearly brightened” in the United States but the recovery remains too uneven with lower income groups lagging behind. In a speech Monday, May 3, 2021 Powell cited a number of reasons that U.S. growth prospects have brightened. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, Pool)
EXPLAINER: Why are fears of high inflation getting worse?

By Christopher Rugaber May. 11, 2021 05:02 PM EDT

A man walks past a bank's electronic board showing the Hong Kong share index at Hong Kong Stock Exchange Tuesday, May 11, 2021. Shares dropped Tuesday in Asia after selling of several Big Tech companies pulled U.S. benchmarks lower. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)
Wall Street opens lower led by more drops in Big Tech stocks

The Associated Press May. 11, 2021 03:24 AM EDT

FILE- This June 6, 2019, file photo shows the U.S. Treasury Department building at dusk in Washington. The Treasury Department says it will employ extraordinary measures to avoid an unprecedented default on the national debt this summer, but officials say those measures could be exhausted “much more quickly” than normal given the unusual circumstances of the global pandemic. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
Treasury warns of need to deal with national debt limit

By Martin Crutsinger May. 05, 2021 09:05 AM EDT

Two women sit on life-guard post, in Alimos beach, a seaside suburb of Athens, on Friday April 23, 2021. Easter holidays are often celebrated with relatives outside Athens and other cities, but the government has said COVID-19 infection levels remain too high to allow free travel.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Greece closer to investment grade with ratings upgrade

By Derek Gatopoulos Apr. 23, 2021 06:00 PM EDT

FILE - Pedestrians pass the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021, in New York. Stocks are opening higher on Wall Street, keeping the S&P 500 on track for its fourth weekly gain in a row. The benchmark index was up 0.3% in the early going Friday, April 16, led by gains in banks, industrial and health care companies. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
S&P 500 hits another record, marks 4th weekly gain in a row

By Damian J. Troise And Alex Veiga Apr. 16, 2021 03:34 AM EDT

People wearing face masks walk past a bank's electronic board showing the Hong Kong share index at Hong Kong Stock Exchange in Hong Kong Tuesday, April 13, 2021. Asian shares were mostly higher on Tuesday with hopes growing for a global economic rebound despite worries over renewed surges in coronavirus cases. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)
Asian shares gain despite virus worries; China exports rise

By Yuri Kageyama Apr. 12, 2021 02:53 AM EDT

A woman wearing a hat and a protective face mask walk in central Athens, on Monday, April 5, 2021. Retail stores across most of Greece have been allowed to reopen despite an ongoing surge in COVID-19 infections, as the country battled to emerge from deep recession.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Stores in Greece open amid virus surge to help save economy

By Derek Gatopoulos And Costas Kantouris Apr. 05, 2021 06:05 AM EDT

FILE - In this Tuesday, March 9, 2021, file photo, a JetBlue flight arrives at Salt Lake City International Airport, in Salt Lake City. Risky stocks seen as nearly untouchable a year ago burst to the market's best performances during the first three months of 2021, headlining a fourth straight quarter of gains for the S&P 500. Stocks of airlines, oil producers and banks soared on expectations that COVID-19 vaccinations and massive spending by the U.S. government are setting the stage for a roaring economic recovery this year. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
Safety last: Risky investments soared at start of 2021

By Stan Choe Apr. 01, 2021 10:08 AM EDT

FILE - In this Feb. 5, 2021, file photo, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen speaks during a virtual roundtable with participants from Black Chambers of Commerce across the country to discuss the American Rescue Plan in Washington. Last year’s coronavirus-triggered market turmoil exposed vulnerable areas in the U.S. economy that need to be addressed by the nation's top-level financial supervisory group, Yellen said Wednesday, March 31, 2021. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
Yellen says regulatory panel to look at 2020 market turmoil

By Martin Crutsinger Mar. 31, 2021 05:36 PM EDT

FILE - In this May 30, 2017, file photo, the SGR cargo train rides from the port containers depot on a Chinese-backed railway costing nearly $3.3 billion, opened by Kenya's president as one of the country's largest infrastructure project since independence, in Mombasa, Kenya. China's loans to poor countries in Africa and Asia impose unusual secrecy and repayment terms that are hurting their ability to renegotiate debts after the coronavirus pandemic, a group of U.S. and German researchers said in a report Wednesday, March 31, 2021. (AP Photo/Khalil Senosi, File)
Biden announces huge infrastructure plan to 'win the future'

By Jonathan Lemire, Kevin Freking And Zeke Miller Mar. 31, 2021 05:21 AM EDT

FILE - In this Aug. 22, 1996, file photo President Clinton talks in the Rose Garden of the White House prior to signing legislation overhauling America's welfare system. (AP Photo/J.Scott Applewhite, File)
Path from Clinton to Biden takes U-turn on debt, trade, more

By Josh Boak Mar. 28, 2021 07:46 AM EDT

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper speaks during a press briefing on the COVID-19 virus and vaccination efforts on Tuesday, March 2, 2021, at the Emergency Operations Center in Raleigh, N.C. (Robert Willett/The News & Observer via AP)
Cooper seeks big debt package, pay hikes, Medicaid expansion

By Gary D. Robertson Mar. 24, 2021 04:06 PM EDT

Editorial Roundup: Louisiana

By The Associated Press Mar. 24, 2021 03:40 PM EDT
Recent editorials from Louisiana newspapers: ___ March 24 The Advocate on the national debt and the...

Editorial Roundup: Alabama

By The Associated Press Mar. 24, 2021 07:27 AM EDT
Recent editorials from Alabama newspapers: ___ March 21 The Decatur Daily on U.S. Sen Richard...

Currency traders watch monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, March 25, 2021. Shares advanced in Asia on Thursday after a broad decline on Wall Street led by selling of tech heavyweights like Facebook and Apple. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Asian markets push higher despite tech sell-off on Wall St

By Elaine Kurtenbach Mar. 24, 2021 02:55 AM EDT