What is QE3?
Many market watchers and economists are expecting the Federal Reserve on Thursday to announce a third round of “quantitative easing,” or QE3, to boost the sagging U.S. economy. This would be a third round of bond purchases by the Fed in an effort to ease long-term interest rates and spur borrowing and spending. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s speech in Jackson Hole, Wyo., several weeks ago defended the Fed’s bond purchases and highlighted the nation’s poor jobs situation, so much so that many economists expect the Fed to announce the move after its two-day meeting ends.
Did the poverty rate change last year?
The poverty rate is 15 percent, according to new data from the Census Bureau. That is unchanged from the 15.1 percent rate in 2010, and in fact, is the same as it was in 1993. The official poverty line was an annual income of $23,021 for a four-person family, with 46.2 million below the poverty line — also the same as 2010. New Mexico had the highest poverty rate at 22.2 percent, the Census Bureau estimated, while New Hampshire had the lowest, with 7.6 percent.
Why is gas so expensive in New Jersey?
Dealers of gas stations in New Jersey and Pennsylvania jacked up prices to more than $8 a gallon to raise consumer awareness about Lukoil’s pricing policies, which they say are unfair. Russia’s second-largest oil producer charges varying prices to its independent U.S. dealers based on the local marketplace, known as “zone pricing.” The dealers say Lukoil’s pricing strategy forces its franchisees to pay much higher prices for their fuel than competitors. Lukoil has more than 500 stations in the U.S.
