Macro

Why community banks need a break

New financial regulations could squeeze small banks out of the mortgage market.

FORTUNE – For all the gripes on Wall Street over how heavily financial reforms stemming from the financial crisis will eat away at profits, the little banks on Main Street may end up hurting most.

In the latest criticisms over new international banking rules, Federal Reserve Governor Elizabeth Duke recently suggested that regulators consider separate rules for the more than MORE

How Tim Geithner can dodge the next debt crisis

An open letter to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner on how to avoid the fiscal cliff: Stop acting like a policy wonk and start acting like a Wall Street dealmaker.

FORTUNE -- Dear Mr. Secretary:

I know that even though President Obama has been reelected, you are planning to leave the Treasury. So I'd like to offer you a goodbye gift. It's not money or a prestigious seven-digit-a-year gig. It's a way to MORE

Corporate America: Don't give up on your workers

If the nation's employers have to ship jobs overseas for lack of talent, they'll have no one to blame but themselves.

By Nina Easton, senior editor

FORTUNE -- America has a jobs crisis. Not the one that dropped out of the clouds of the Great Recession. A second, less noticed employment problem is unfolding -- and it's all about job-ready skills, or in our case, the lack of them. The likely MORE

Three to-dos on China

The race is over, but how should the U.S. approach the world's second-largest economy?

FORTUNE – During the U.S. presidential campaign, both Mitt Romney and Barack Obama piled on criticisms of China – from being a currency manipulator to playing unfairly in the way it trades with the U.S. and other economies. Now that the race is behind us, how should the U.S. approach China, the world's second-largest economy? A stronger MORE

America's best job creators are slowing down

Medium-sized companies are the biggest drivers of job creation, and they're not so into hiring these days. That's bad news.

FORTUNE – We're only halfway through earnings season, but it's clear corporate America is struggling. After seeing remarkable growth amid a shaky economy, U.S. companies expect a decline in year-over-year earnings for the first time in three years. And Sandy's economic toll certainly won't help most companies.

As big companies brace for MORE

The key to the housing recovery is still investors

The nature of the housing rebound will depend on who is doing the buying — and that's increasingly investors.

FORTUNE  -- After witnessing one too many false starts in the recovery of America's housing market, it's hard not to be a little skeptical about what kind of recovery we should expect. Will it improve steadily, or experience choppy stops and starts?

One way to determine that is by looking at who is MORE

China slowdown may be overstated

China's growth may shift more than it will decline. In the years ahead, less developed parts of the country could pick up where development in bigger cities cool off.

FORTUNE – As China's economy slows, many have wondered if record growth in the world's second-largest economy has approached the beginning of the end. During the latest quarter, China's gross domestic product rose 7.4%, still a healthy clip but also the seventh MORE

Let's jump off the fiscal cliff

The shock of more than half a trillion dollars in tax increases and spending cuts could send us into another recession.  But with a little stimulus, it might be a blessing, not a curse.

By John Cassidy, contributor

FORTUNE -- With the election almost upon us, Wall Street is starting to focus on the possibility that, come Jan. 1, 2013, the economy could hurtle over a "fiscal cliff" consisting of $600 MORE

California: China's gateway state to American investment?

The Golden State might be in financial turmoil, but that hasn't scared off Chinese investors. At least not yet.

FORTUNE -- California has attracted more Chinese investors than any U.S. state. And in the coming decade, thanks largely to California's robust tech industry, the Golden State is poised to be America's gateway for Chinese investment, according to a new report by Asia Society.

This could be viewed as good news for California, MORE

Europe: Is it time to break up this marriage?

From up close, it looks like the 'poorer' nations could do just fine without a single currency.

By Erin Burnett, contributor

FORTUNE -- This summer trips to Europe opened my eyes to something: There's a lack of passion in Europe for keeping the euro. Yes, the pain of a breakup would be severe. But many of the poorer southerners of Europe don't seem to feel that they need "Europe" anymore.

That, at MORE