Shipping containers pile up at a new container port in Wuhan, China on March 27. After three decades of spectacular growth, China passed Japan in the second quarter to become the world’s second-largest economy behind the United States, according to government figures released early Monday. The milestone, though anticipated for some time, is the most striking evidence yet that China’s ascendance... 

Normally when I cover subjects in the economy, I try to take a “macro” approach, giving an overall view of various financial elements around the world and how they are clearly connected to one another in a greater synchronous social force. That is to say, in Chinese domestic consumption, or European debt obligations, or Russian gold reserves, and in many other factors, is encoded the very future... 

Union members hold up “I want to work” placards as they join a protest of several thousand people demanding jobs outside City Hall in Los Angeles on August 13, 2010. Even the criminals have fallen on hard times in America’s poorest city as the long-term unemployed struggle to keep a grasp on normality. Richard Gaines is one of the best-known faces on Camden’s Haddon Avenue.... 

Foes want the Obama administration to ban a 1% ‘private transfer’ charge — assessed every time a property is sold for 99 years — paid to investors who backed the home’s original builder. Can you name a housing controversy that pulls Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, consumer advocates, labor unions representing transport workers and government employees, the title insurance... 

Saying “I told you so” isn’t always a sign of bad manners – not when good news is involved. Well, I did tell you to expect this: China has now raced past Japan to become the world’s number two economy. Just last Christmas I wrote that China would blow past the Chinese economy this year. And so it has. Yi Gang, China’s top currency regulator, says China has “in... 

Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith delivers his speech during the opening of the Australia-Indonesia Facility for Disaster Reduction in Jakarta Australia says it will impose new sanctions on Iran, joining the United States, Canada, European Union, and United Nations. Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said Thursday that the sanctions, aimed at persuading Iran to halt its nuclear program,... 

The European Union (EU) on Monday adopted a new round of sanctions against Iran that, if implemented, will have serious implications not only for the EU as the Islamic Republic’s largest trading partner, but also for its energy security. The new European sanctions target Iranian shipping and air cargo companies, impose visa bans on officials and freeze assets linked to the Islamic Revolutionary... 

Goldman Sachs received a $12.9 billion payout from the government's bailout of AIG, which was at one time the world's largest insurance company. Goldman Sachs sent $4.3 billion in federal tax money to 32 entities, including many overseas banks, hedge funds and pensions, according to information made public Friday night. Goldman Sachs disclosed the list of companies to the Senate Finance Committee... 

Depending on which path the economy takes – the high growth of the mid-1990s, moderate growth or little growth – joblessness could stay high for up to 11 years, a new study for the Center for Economic Policy and Research says. The study’s results prompted Sen. Al Franken and Rep. Keith Ellison, both D-Minn., to demand again that Congress pass legislation to retain up to 900,000... 

Luc Everaert The International Monetary Fund this morning released its latest review of the eurozone economy, a collection of 16 countries that, judging from the report’s conclusions, are becoming the continent’s new Brothers Grimm. Growth is slow — and at risk of getting slower because bank credit has dried up. The banks themselves are undercapitalized and far too dependent on government... 

What are 308,367,109 Americans supposed to do? First of all, despite clamping down on immigration, our population grew by 2.6M people last year.  Unfortunately, not only did we not create jobs for those 2.6M new people but we lost about 4M jobs so what are these new people going to do? Not only that, but nobody is talking about the another major job issue.  People aren’t retiring.  They can’t... 

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday unveiled $500 million worth of civilian aid projects for key ally Pakistan, in an attempt to counter rampant anti-Americanism in the country by reaching out to the population with tangible help. The aim of the projects was to show that the U.S. relationship “goes far beyond security,” and they ranged from restoring a historical fort to boosting... 

The United States plans to provide Israel with its most extensive military aid package in history. The US Assistant Secretary of State, Andrew J. Shapiro claims that the increased US military assistance should help Tel Aviv reach tough decisions in peace talks with the Palestinians. He said that there is “hope that the administration’s expanded commitment to Israel’s security... 

The EU banking system is in big trouble. Many of the Union’s largest banks are sitting on hundreds of billions of dodgy sovereign bonds and non performing real estate loans. But writing down their losses will deplete their capital and force them to restructure their debt. So the banks are concealing their losses through accounting sleight-of-hand and by borrowing money from the European... 

In this file photo taken May 25, 2010, a dozen labor activists throw paper money in front of paper figures representing Chinese employees of Foxconn Technology Group, who recently died in China, outside the Foxconn office in Hong Kong. Factory workers demanding better wages and working conditions are hastening the eventual end of an era of cheap costs that helped make southern coastal China the world's...