Don Lee

Shown are theheadquarters of the U.S. Federal Reserve in Washington, D.C.

Is the U.S. due for a recession or not? A case can be made either way

June 11, 2018 at 11:12 a.m.

For the Federal Reserve, Wednesday's decision to stand pat on interest rates wasn't hard -- not with global financial markets and oil prices in turmoil. But the Fed, like most...

Worker wages will get an additional boost from higher minimum wages taking effect in several cities and states. Above, demonstrators in Oak Brook in May push for higher wages.

Worker salaries are poised to climb in 2016

June 16, 2018 at 12:45 p.m.

American workers are poised in 2016 to finally get what they've been missing for years: higher salaries. Even as the recovery from the Great Recession brought booming corporate profits, most...

Critics of the Fed's easy-money policies say they had diminishing impact over time and subjected the nation to side effects that could lead to serious problems in the future. Above, Fed Chairwoman Janet L. Yellen.

Has the Fed waited too long to raise interest rates?

March 29, 2019 at 6:54 p.m.

Almost everyone agrees that the Federal Reserve's extraordinary action to cut interest rates to near zero in the depths of the Great Recession helped save the country from a deeper...

Delegates watch as former President Bill Clinton addresses the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C. on Sept. 5, 2012.

Middle-class families, pillar of American Dream, are no longer in majority: study

May 18, 2019 at 1:36 a.m.

The nation's middle class, long a pillar of the American economy, has shrunk to the point where it no longer constitutes the majority of the adult population, according to a...

Nearly all the Republican candidates for president have stated their position on taxes; some of their plans feature ideas previously taboo to the party. Above, the University of Colorado site in Boulder of the third GOP debate, which aimed to focus on the economy.

GOP presidential candidates, in shift from past, compete with bold tax plans

August 19, 2019 at 5:20 a.m.

This time four years ago, most Republican presidential candidates had said little about their tax platforms, let alone gone out on a limb with anything dramatic. Not so in 2015....

Pacific trade pact seeks to embed American values in Asia to counter China

June 23, 2019 at 6:28 p.m.

The intense final hours of negotiations to conclude the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal came down to granular, last-minute disputes over milk imports, drug patents and origin of car parts.But the...

U.S. economy improving faster than expected, data show

August 24, 2021 at 6:01 a.m.

The Bucktown shop owner listened as her customer debated whether she could afford the $860 blue topaz ring, set in 18-karat gold and sterling silver. "She was like, 'I just...

On the trail of dissident artist Ai WeiWei

December 24, 2018 at 6:24 p.m.

WASHINGTON — From his gray-brick walled compound in northeast Beijing, Ai Weiwei barely felt the tremors from the Sichuan earthquake on May 12, 2008. But within days, as the death...

Census sees Chicago’s population inching up

August 23, 2021 at 2:58 p.m.

The Great Recession has helped stabilize the population of big cities including Chicago, which after the loss of 200,000 residents in the last decade saw a slight uptick, according toU.S....

Obama unveiling $447 billion plan to jolt economy

August 23, 2021 at 6:32 a.m.

President Obama this evening rolls out a plan to inject $447 billion into the ailing economy through tax cuts aimed at working families and small businesses and spending to rebuild...

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