Economy, Banks | featured news

In his weekly radio and Internet address, President Obama said that Congress needed to enact reforms to protect consumers, keep banks strong and safeguard the U.S. economy.

Ben S. Bernanke argued that information gleaned from the banking oversight process helps the central bank guide the economy.

The increase in the discount rate is seen as a first step by the Fed to normalize lending after more than two years of extraordinary actions to prop up the economy.

A slowdown, or worse, in China's economy because of bursting stock and real-estate bubbles was high on most Davos 2010 participants' check-lists of risks to the recovery in global economic growth. They may have got some reassurance today from China's central bank's decision to rein in the lending that is inflating them by raising its capital reserve ratio requirement of the country' big banks for the second time in a month.

Most banks have stopped toughening their lending standards for consumers and businesses, and manufacturing activity is at the highest levels in five years—both further signs of a strengthening U.S. economy.

Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said the government rescued American International Group Inc. to prevent a "catastrophic" blow to the U.S. economy, not to save any of AIG's counterparties.

Borrowing on the home for quick cash is a lot harder than it used to be in the United States, and it's causing headaches for homeowners, banks and the economy.

President Barack Obama singled out financial institutions for causing much of the economic tailspin and criticized their opposition to tighter federal oversight of their industry....

Central bankers from around the world are starting to focus on how to unwind the policies they used to fight the global financial crisis.

Several major U.S. banks, led by Wells Fargo & Co, said the troubled economy drove credit losses higher, reducing profitability in the second quarter.