President-elect Barack Obama and House Democrats have proposed an $825 billion Economic Stimulus Package, to be spent over 2 years. When combined with the remaining half of the $700 billion bailout, it totals $1.175 trillion in government aid in 2009 and $412 billion in 2010. Most of these funds will go to homeowners, workers and local banks in the form of tax relief, jobs programs and seed money for loans. Read more...

The Dow dropped 250 points today, based on fears that sluggish consumer spending will pull the economy further into recession. The International Council of Shopping Centers reported that the 2008 Christmas shopping season was down 2.2%, the worst decline in almost four decades. Consumer spending supports 70% of GDP growth, so a fall-off means further business bankruptcies and higher unemployment. The stock market has dropped 9% in the last six days. (Source: AP, Stocks Tumble on Disappointing Retail Sales, January 14, 2009) Read more...

Since the beginning of the Subprime Mortgage Crisis in 2007, banks around the world have written down over $1 trillion in losses. This has forced them to come up with $946 billion in capital to offset the losses. As a result, banks have been hoarding cash, including the $350 billion acquired from the government as part of the Senate Banking Bill. Read more...

In December, the economy lost 524,000 jobs, according to the Employment Report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Generally, about 150,000 new jobs are needed each month to keep the economy stable.

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