Economy & Market Trends

Americans figure out how to thrive in lean times

America has its mojo back as more and more people learn to survive and even thrive in lean times. There's a national spirit of resiliency we have that I see when talking to people about opportunities they're seizing when opening their own business, or coming up with new ways to ...

• 1:51 p.m. Friday, May 18, 2012

Busting up the big banks is the solution to 'Too Big To Fail'

The big banks that played such a key role in the Great Recession are a hazard to the health of our country and need to busted up into smaller, regional entities. We in the country are in the midst of a multiyear recovery from a 'Made in America' financial mess ...

• 1:49 p.m. Friday, May 18, 2012

Chase now facing criminal probe

As anger mounts against JPMorgan Chase, now comes word that there's a criminal investigation into $2 billion of speculative gambling losses because company traders tried to hedge their bets against the marketplace. At a recent Chase shareholder meeting, people were practically throwing pies at pictures of chief executive Jamie Dimon. ...

• 1:23 p.m. Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Clark talks fears over Greece, Europe

Fears about Greece going down the drain are driving down stock prices. But how will the European debt crisis hit us here at home? Greece is in a severe depression. Those citizens who are pensioners are in terrible shape, some just one step away from starvation. This tragedy has been ...

• 1:21 p.m. Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Rising motorcycle sales signal economic recovery

There's an unusual and very loud economic indicator that says we are definitely in a recovery: Motorcycles! I read in The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that motorcycle manufacturers are booming right now. That's a big changed from when we went into the Great Recession five years ago. At that time, motorcycle ...

• 1:34 p.m. Tuesday, May 15, 2012
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video

More signs point to economic recovery.

The restaurant industry is recovering. Clark explains why this is a surefire sign that the economy is on the mend.

• 12:00 a.m. Thursday, May 10, 2012

Car, credit industries booming with offers to sub-prime customers

After months of yellow light lending, consumers are again getting the green light for a flood of car loans and credit cards even if they have damaged or dinged credit. The big sales numbers the auto industry is enjoying right now are partly because of the new lower lending standards. ...

• 12:47 p.m. Monday, May 7, 2012

Lower gas prices could be coming

CLARKONOMICS: Gas prices in the lowest-priced markets in the United States could dip below the $3 mark this summer thanks to a variety of world factors both political and practical. Speaking politically, you have France's election of a new socialist president; the disruption in the Greek elections; and continuing political ...

• 12:45 p.m. Monday, May 7, 2012
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Insecure optimism characterizes our nation's take on the economy

The unemployment numbers in our country have been ugly for years now, and even as we are in the midst of a supposed multi-year recovery, the number of people impacted by unemployment is so large and that troubles me so much. Nine million families in 2011 had at least one ...

• 1:35 p.m. Wednesday, May 2, 2012

TABOR puts the brakes on spending state tax revenue

CLARKONOMICS: State tax collections are now above their all-time record high five years ago, according to new numbers from the Nelson Rockefeller Institute of Government. So where is the money going? While increased tax collections are a sign of economic recovery, I think this whole question poses a fundamental challenge ...

• 2:37 p.m. Monday, April 30, 2012