Staff Favorites, Economic Collapse

Home buyers are paying more for mortgages. Mortgage lenders are closing shop as large banks turn off the spigot of money to them. Large and small corporations are also paying more to borrow — if they can find anyone willing to lend them cash.

Politicians, regulators and financial specialists outside the United States are seeking a role in oversight of American markets, banks and rating agencies in the wake of recent problems related to subprime mortgages.

Thirteen years after the collapse of her landmark attempt to overhaul national health care, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York announced her second attempt Monday at achieving universal coverage, unveiling a $110 billion plan that would require all Americans to have insurance and give them a range of plan options.

The average value of Americans' 401(k) plans will be substantially higher in real terms by the year 2040 even if stock market returns fall short of their historical values, according to new research by a team of economists from MIT, Harvard and Dartmouth.

Republican California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Friday spoke in favor of his plan to provide universal health care for all state residents, where he said some 6.7 million people live with no type of health insurance.