Economy

Ford's protracted sales slump continued in May, while every other major automaker showed gains: DETROIT — Toyota Motor Corp.'s U.S. vehicle sales jumped 14.1 percent in May to its best monthly level ever and General Motors Corp.'s sales rose 9.7 percent, helping boost industry sales 5 percent, as both automakers credited in part the appeal of their more fuel-efficient offerings amid high gas…

While the relatively narrow Dow Jones Industrial Average has been achieving alltime highs for a couple of months, it took until last week for the broader S&P 500 index to beat its previous record of 1527. The index closed at 1536.24 last week. Instead of writing up the big winners in the 77% of companies that have brought the index back from its 2000 low, USA Today writer Matt Krantz looked…

On February 28 (second item at link), New York Times business reporter David Leonhardt infamously wrote the following: For Manufacturing, a Recession Has Arrived The nation’s manufacturing sector managed to slip into a recession with almost nobody seeming to notice. Well, until yesterday. To this day, Leonhardt appears to be the only one to "notice" a recession in manufacturing -- because it…

Update: SEE Editor's Note at bottom of post for related MRC content.1Q07 Home Prices Up 0.5%, 4.3% Over 12 Months AgoThose looking for a pervasive and severe nationwide decline in home prices are going to have to keep looking. The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) just released its House Price Index (PDF) for the first quarter of 2007. This most comprehensive of home-price…

Update posted below w/link to NRO's Bench Memos. "Over Ginsburg's Dissent, Court Limits Bias Suits," blared the May 30 front page headline by the Washington Post Supreme Court reporter Robert Barnes. While the 5-4 ruling in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. hinged on a plain and simple application of a 1964 federal law, Barnes front-loaded his article with the dissent of liberal…

If you've been listening to the news, you might be surprised that the national average for gas is $3.20 - not $4 or more. Media hype of rising gas prices included predictions of $4, $5 and even higher national averages for gasoline.MRC Business & Media Institute director and Newsbusters contributor Dan Gainor appeared on Fox's "Your World with Neil Cavuto" on May 28, 2007 to combat the hype…

As global warming alarmists in the media and on tour buses enflame hysteria concerning a nonexistent climate crisis, there is an inconvenient truth they routinely ignore: carbon dioxide emission reductions will hurt economies across the globe while worsening poverty.This seemingly immutable fact, which continually eludes the deluded such as soon-to-be-Dr. Al Gore and his band of not so merry…