Bayh recounts his front-row seat to financial crisis

INDIANAPOLIS | Former U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., sees the recent financial crisis as a tale of greed, fear, dreams, hopes and panic, calling it a story as old as time and destined to repeat itself absent changes to the incentives that drive American business and government.

Business will pick up in region in 2013

Chicago Fed President Charles Evans speaks to more than 100 local business owners and officials at the Lakeshore Chamber of Commerce's eighth annual Business Expo at Dynasty Banquets in Hammond.

Fed justified in additional economic support

HAMMOND | Charles Evans, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago president and CEO, said Wednesday the risk of only taking "modest" monetary policy actions could result in a decade of stagnant economic growth, similar to what Japan had in the 1990s.

Federal Reserve Bank chair to address Lakesore Business Expo

The eighth annual Lakeshore Chamber of Commerce Business Expo will be held Sept. 26 with Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Chair Charles L. Evans delivering the keynote address to the Lakeshore business community.

A word from Bernanke turns stocks around

NEW YORK | The stock market keeps getting tossed around by the Fed.

Fed's discussion suggests possible new action soon

WASHINGTON | Federal Reserve officials spoke with increased urgency at their last meeting about the need to provide more help for a weak U.S. economy. Many thought further support would be needed "fairly soon" unless the economy improved significantly.

Low prices, weak hiring raise odds of Fed action next week

WASHINGTON | The U.S. job market is flagging, and consumer prices are barely rising. The picture sketched by data released Thursday has made some economists predict the Federal Reserve will announce some new step next week to boost the economy.

Indiana Republicans pass party torch to Pence

INDIANAPOLIS | Promising to run "a positive campaign of ideas," Mike Pence told delegates to the Republican convention Saturday that if elected governor he will make Indiana "the state that works."

Bernanke: Economic growth 'frustratingly slow'

WASHINGTON | Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Wednesday acknowledged the pace of economic growth is likely to be "frustratingly slow" after the Fed downgraded its forecast for the next two years.

A summer many investors would rather forget

NEW YORK | It was a stomach-churning summer most investors would like to forget.

Bernanke puzzled by weak consumer spending

WASHINGTON | Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said he's surprised by how cautious consumers have been in the two years since the recession officially ended. But the Fed chief offered no hint of any steps the Fed would take to boost the weak economy.

GUEST COMMENTARY: Change monetary policy to solve fiscal problems

If the United States were a functioning, representative democracy, the debate over the deficit crisis would not be limited to the Republican and Democratic parties' support of continued corporate dominance over the American people.

LARRY DeBOER: This economic recovery isn't like the last Great Recession

What's wrong with the recovery? It's been almost two years since the end of the Great Recession in July 2009. The recession ended in the sense that the economy stopped declining and started growing. But growth has been very slow.

Small businesses are big business

Here's a reminder that the dozens of small businesses we use each week make a difference.

Freddie Mac: Mortgage rates hit low for year

WASHINGTON | Rates on 30-year fixed mortgages fell this week to the lowest level of the year and were barely shy of the all-time low.

Fed keep rates at record lows; upbeat on economy

WASHINGTON | The Federal Reserve is sounding a more confident note that the economy is strengthening and pledges to hold rates at record lows to make sure it gains even more traction.

Fed cuts key interest rate

WASHINGTON | The Federal Reserve cut a key interest rate for the first time in four years, seeking with an aggressive half-point move to prevent a steep housing slump and turbulent financial markets from triggering a recession.