Free Republic

On his one year anniversary as Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke has settled most of the early doubts about him, but his biggest challenge -- bringing the economy in for a soft landing -- still lies ahead. On Wednesday, Mr. Bernanke and his colleagues left their target for short-term interest rates at 5.25% for the fifth consecutive meeting and again said their predominant concern was inflation. The decision was largely expected. In a statement released after the meeting, the Fed said "recent indicators have suggested somewhat firmer economic growth, and some tentative signs of stabilization have appeared in the housing...

CORONADO, Calif. (NNS) -- The first Special Warfare Combatant Craft (SWCC) class for the new rates of Special Warfare Boat Operator (SB) and Special Warfare Operator (SO) graduated during a commencement ceremony at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado Nov. 9 The new ratings replace previous source ratings, which had been used to distinguish SEALs (Sea, Air, Land) and SWCC by job classifications, and will allow SEALs and SWCC to take advancement exams relating to their own rating. All active-duty graduates of Basic Underwater Demolition School and Basic Crew Member School officially became SOs and SBs Oct. 1. The changes for Navy...

Release Date: September 20, 2006 For immediate releaseThe Federal Open Market Committee decided today to keep its target for the federal funds rate at 5-1/4 percent.The moderation in economic growth appears to be continuing, partly reflecting a cooling of the housing market.Readings on core inflation have been elevated, and the high levels of resource utilization and of the prices of energy and other commodities have the potential to sustain inflation pressures. However, inflation pressures seem likely to moderate over time, reflecting reduced impetus from energy prices, contained inflation expectations, and the cumulative effects of monetary policy actions and other...

TUESDAY, Aug. 29 (HealthDay News) -- Adult obesity rates increased in 31 states during the past year, leaving an estimated two-thirds of Americans vulnerable to fatal diseases such as diabetes, stroke and cancer.This, despite federal and state government efforts to curb the overweight epidemic, according to a new report from the Trust for America's Health.The report, titled F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies Are Failing America, 2006, was released Tuesday and is the third in a series of annual reports by the trust detailing state obesity rates as well as the effectiveness of government policies to fight the problem.According...

The same shockwaves that have homeowners reeling are striking business owners who must now confront premiums that have increased since last year by as much as 400 percent -- when they can get insurance. Florida homeowners have railed for months about the skyrocketing cost of residential property insurance and the suffering it is causing. They're about to have a lot of company. Business owners looking for commercial property insurance are increasingly finding themselves in the same rickety boat as homeowners. And should the crisis get out of hand, the effects could reach throughout Florida's economy. "The commercial insurance market is...

SAN LUIS RIO COLORADO, Mexico - Smugglers in sunglasses and muscle shirts reclined on withering patches of grass in a tree-covered plaza, blending into clusters of migrants and offering them "safe" trips into the United States. But on this sweltering day, there were no takers. None of the Mexicans hoping to reach the United States could pay the $3,000 the smugglers demanded to hide them in a car and drive them across the border, a trip that just weeks ago cost $2,000. The sharp increase in smugglers' fees is due to the arrival of National Guard troops at the border...

Practitioners of the ‘dismal science’ should stop sneering at their academic cousins in the social sciences—and start learning from them. In 1849, the Scottish essayist Thomas Carlyle labeled economics the “dismal science.” Two centuries later, contemporary practitioners still study dismal choices: Higher prices or fewer jobs? Spend or save? They have also become a smug lot...

TALLAHASSEE -- Homeowner insurance rates could jump as much as 25 percent a year, without government review, under legislation proposed by House Republican leaders Monday. Backers say their goal is to bolster competition in the state's property insurance market following two hurricane seasons that left insurers with huge shortfalls and record losses.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 12, 2005 – Both the active Army and Army National Guard continued reversing a springtime recruiting slump, exceeding their November goals at 105 and 110 percent, respectively, defense officials announced today. The active Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force also exceeded their November goals, reporting rates of 102, 105 and 101 percent, respectively. The Marine Corps Reserve and Air Force Reserve achieved 100 percent of their November recruiting goals as well, officials reported. Three reserve components experienced shortfalls in November. The Army Reserve recruited 96 percent of its goal; the Navy Reserve, 87 percent. The Air National Guard,...

Let us start with a quote from Friedrich von Hayek: "The means of perception employed in statistics are not the same as those employed in economic theory." American economists think far too much in statistical terms, regardless of underlying economic processes. While the statistics do, indeed, show general enrichment, in reality, there is none at all. The homeowner has zero gain in his comfort of living or income. This perception of wealth has its true basis in nothing but the famous "greater fool theory"; that is, in the expectation that there will be a greater fool to buy the acquired...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Workers' compensation insurance rates paid by California employers have dropped an average of about 26 percent since lawmakers instituted a series of cost-cutting bills beginning in 2003, but bigger reductions are possible, Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi said Monday. "The full effect of reforms have not yet been realized to employers," he said in a conference call with reporters. "Further reductions are possible and should happen." Garamendi estimates that the claims insurers have paid for work-related injuries has dropped 36.5 percent since mid-2003, but insurance companies have reported overall base-rate reductions of about 26.8 percent in the same...

WASHINGTON - Most states are reporting lofty high school graduation rates that far exceed reality and mislead the public about how schools are performing, a private analysis found. The majority of states — 36 of them — say 80 percent to 97 percent of their high school students graduate on time, according to state figures provided to the Education Department. Those numbers show "rampant dishonesty," said Kati Haycock, director of The Education Trust, an advocacy organization for poor and minority students. The Trust reviewed the 2002-03 graduation rates that states had to provide this year. A series of independent analyses...

American homeowners have made a trillion-dollar bet that mortgage rates will remain near record lows for at least a few more years. But with some interest rates already rising, economists worry that the bet could turn bad. The problem is that new types of mortgages that hold down monthly payments for families - helping many buy homes that they would not otherwise be able to afford - also require potentially far higher payments in future years. The bill will soon start to come due in a serious way, as the initial period of fixed payments, typically set at artificially low...

State Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi yesterday urged insurers to cut their workers' compensation rates by 18 percent July 1 to reflect the savings they have received from recent regulatory reforms. An insurance industry spokeswoman responded that double-digit reductions are likely, although not necessarily as deep as those Garamendi recommends. "Eighteen percent is not unreasonable," said Nicole Mahrt, public affairs director for the Western Region American Insurance Association. "It's higher than what some companies are able to do, but some companies are already planning cuts higher than that." Twice a year – on Jan. 1 and July 1 – the state...

Public school administrators say they need more money. They say they don’t have enough money to provide the classroom instruction required by the state. Administrators could well be right about the need to increase funding for instruction, but they’re dead wrong about needing more money. A study commissioned by the Governor’s Business Council finds annual operating costs increased $11 billion dollars from 1997 to 2004. Only $6 billion of this increase can be accounted for by enrollment growth, inflation, and increased costs associated with a growing population of economically disadvantaged students. Yet public schools spent an additional $5 billion above...

April Fools has past, but the joke is still on us! Electricity prices are going up again throughout Ontario. Who is to blame? It seems like just about everybody. With OPG making a profit off of the generation of power, the McGuinty Liberals have nevertheless increased hydro rates from 4.3 cents per kWh when they took office, to 4.7 cents last year, and now as of April 1st to 5.0 cents per kWh for the first 750kWh, and 5.8 cents after that. You will really get hit if you switched to electric heating a couple of decades ago, as the...

After tech stocks started crashing in 2000, you’d think investors would do the smart thing with their money — hunker down in search of safety. And some did. But many just moved on to create a new bubble — in real estate! Fueled by the Federal Reserve Board’s reckless interest rate policy, they bought homes in droves, slowly inflating the bubble in 2001 and 2002. Then in 2003-2004, things exploded higher. Investors poured into the market — accounting for over 9% of all home purchases by mid-2004. That was MORE THAN DOUBLE the investor share just a few years earlier....

Remember the concept “Owning a piece of the American Dream?” That goal you had when you graduated from college to eventually own your own home? Well, some recently released statistics suggest that, although the percentage of homeowners in our nation is at an all-time high, the preponderance of interest-only and home equity loans is creating a society of baby boomers that might never actually achieve this dream. Maybe even more concerning is that these home “lessees” don’t seem to mind. As reported by The Sacramento Bee: http://www.sacbee.com/content/homes/re_news/story/12425263p-13281615c.html "‘Folks paying off their loans and owning their homes free and clear is...

California business owners saw the average annual premium for workers' compensation insurance drop between 13.9 percent and 16.6 percent in the last six months, according to records from the state Department of Insurance. These would be the first double-digit percentage rate cuts since deregulation in 1995, savings that arose out of legislative overhauls the last two sessions. "Rates are coming down. Right now, it appears medical cost inflation has been impacted by the reforms. Medical costs were one of the primary drivers pushing rates up," said Jack Hannan, a spokesman for the Workers' Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California, an...

Satellite TV customers are facing price rises, as operators Dish Network and DirecTV hatch plans to increase rates, despite an ongoing rivalry with cable providers. Dish Network, owned by EchoStar Communications, plans to raise subscriptions by $2 to $4 a month, the company said Thursday. That translates to an average of 4.3 percent on average charges of $56.11. The new rates will take effect Feb. 1 and affect certain packages, such as the basic service. DirecTV is also planning to announce a rate hike this quarter, but details are not yet available, said Robert Mercer, a company spokesman. Currently, DirecTV...