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The increase in federal taxes and the reductions in federal spending would cut the budget deficit (the difference between how much revenue the government takes in how much it spends) from $1.1 trillion last year to $641 billion in fiscal 2013, roughly a $500 billion cut. That represents a reduction in the budget deficit (as a percentage share of GDP) not seen since 1969 when the conservative Richard Nixon booted the free-spending Lyndon Johnson out of the White House

It is therefore hard for politicians to so brazenly throw the nation into a deep recession to reduce spending when the benefits of acting are so intangible. The fact is that the Budget Control Act of 2011 was political theater in which the Republicans tried to appease "Tea Party" voters – a constituency that has basically been wiped out as the economy has improved. Discussions around raising the marginal tax rate on the top 2% are simply just political fodder. Indeed, multiple studies, including ones by the CBO say that it would raise an insignificant amount of money (a negative for the Democratic view) but would also cause no real harm to the economy (a negative for the Republican view). In the end, if it takes changing the top 2% rate from 35% to 39.6% to end this whole fiscal cliff charade, you can bet it has already been agreed to

the American marijuana business brings in about $2 billion a year to Mexico’s drug traffickers.

That makes it almost as important to their business as the cocaine trade, which is worth about $2.4 billion.

Many Mexicans therefore wonder if America might consider a new approach. Felipe Calderon, the president, has said that if Americans cannot bring themselves to stop buying drugs, they ought to consider “market alternatives”, by which he means legalisation. Vicente Fox and Ernesto Zedillo, the two previous presidents of Mexico, have reached the same conclusion.

About 60,000 have been killed by organised crime during the past six years. Thousands more have disappeared.

In Mexico relatively few people take drugs. But many are murdered as a result of the export business.

Would Mexico’s bandits find themselves undercut by “El Cártel de Seattle”?

So smuggling legal Washington dope to New York, for instance, would add about $1,900 to the cost of a kilo, giving a total wholesale price not much below $4,000.

That would make it more expensive than imported Mexican pot. But home-grown marijuana is much better quality than the Mexican sort. The content of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the part that gives you the giggles, is between 10% and 18%, whereas in Mexican pot it is only about 4% to 6%.

It calculates that the cost of growing marijuana legally is about $880 per kilo. Adding on a decent mark-up, plus the taxes that would be applied, it puts the wholesale price of Washington marijuana at just over $2,000 per kilo.

Legalisation could, in short, deal a blow to Mexico’s traffickers of a magnitude that no current policy has got close to achieving. The stoned and sober alike should bear that in mind when they cast their votes on Tuesday.

taken in the Tazreen Fashions factory surfaced in the days following the fire. The retailer responded by saying that the factory was no longer authorized to produce merchandise for it.

"A supplier subcontracted work to this factory without authorization and in direct violation of our policies. Today, we have terminated the relationship with that supplier," Wal-Mart said.

Workers rights experts, however, claim that it's unlikely that retailers wouldn't know where their stuff is produced, as a matter of cost and production control.

"In order to be profitable, you have to control the supply chain, monitor quality, prices and the speed of delivery,

"It's strange that a company would say they had no idea who was making stuff for them."

The audits, completed by what it calls accredited or internationally recognized auditing firms, are carried out every six to 24 months. But the reports are not published online. Nor are they shown to factory workers, according to Nova. "There's no transparency. They never publish their findings as to whether or not there's a violation, so there's not much scrutiny about the audits," he said.

n order to keep production prices low, Nova said that companies rely on cheap labor, which often goes hand-in-hand with low wages, poor working conditions and safety concerns.

"It is such a poor country and so desperate for jobs that they ignore the most minimal labor rights standard," he said. "It's as if everything has to give way just to maintain these garment jobs. There's a fear that the labels will flee and go to another country.

Bangladesh's ready-made garments make up 80% of the country's $24 billion in annual exports, and the country has about 4,500 garment factories that make clothes for large global stores including

hope behind the policy is that numerical targets will lift some of the mystery surrounding the Fed's decisions.

As economic data is released, the public can base their expectations for Fed policy on a clearer picture of the central bank's goals.

"I support this approach because it would enable the public to immediately adjust its expectations concerning the timing of liftoff in response to new information affecting the economic outloo

The Fed has kept interest rates near zero since late 2008 in an effort to stimulate the economy. While the unemployment rate has since fallen slightly to 7.9%, the Fed is still unsatisfied with that level and has been pursuing additional alternative policies to boost the economy further.

The Fed's policymaking committee is next scheduled to meet Dec. 11-12.

Among the countries in the 100% club: Japan, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Ireland and the U.S. (U.S policymakers and credit-rating firms tend to put the U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio at 73%, based on marketable securities held by the public. Gross debt — the $16 trillion figure we see most often — includes money the government owes itself, like for Social Security. But the IMF uses the gross debt figure here.)

The effects in the Arctic, on fisheries and trade, may be easier to measure.

On the other side of the ocean the Parry Channel, a part of the Northwest Passage which has been ice-free in previous years, this year stayed resolutely impassable.

Such quirks will make the Arctic an unpredictable place to work. But if the details are tricky, the big picture is clear. Clear as an open ocean.

whereas in the 1960s the average Mexican woman had seven children, she now has two. Within a decade Mexico’s fertility rate will fall below America

A third of Mexico has a lower murder rate than Louisiana, America’s most murderous state. Nevertheless, the “cartels” will remain strong while two conditions hold. The first is that America imports drugs—on which its citizens spend billions—which it insists must remain illegal

Boosting Mexico’s poor productivity means forcing competition on a cosy bunch of private near-monopolies—starting with telecoms, television, cement and food and drink. That means upsetting the tycoons who backed his campaign.

The spark for the protests was high electricity bills, after the government raised prices by 13 percent last July. But it quickly spilled over into wider frustration with Borisov's domineering manner and unpredictable decision making.

The prime minister made sacrifices in an attempt to cling on, sacking his finance minister, cutting power prices and risking a diplomatic row with the Czech Republic by punishing foreign-owned companies, a move that conflicted with EU norms on protection of investors and due process.

Unemployment in the country of 7.3 million is far from the highs hit in the decade after the end of communism but remains at 11.9 percent and average salaries are stuck at around 800 levs ($550) a month.

Millions have emigrated in search of a better life, leaving swathes of the country depopulated and little hope for those who remain.

The precedent is unlikely to encourage other foreign investors, who already have to navigate complicated bureaucracy and widespread corruption and organized crime if they want to take advantage of Bulgaria's 16-percent flat tax rate.

encourages Americans to utilize retirement savings and investment plan strategie

The week also encourages individuals to reflect on their current financial situations and their potential for a secure retirement in the future.

2. Half of Americans aren’t saving for retirement

49 percent of Americans say they aren’t contributing to any retirement plan. Those least likely to save for retirement: individuals between ages 18 and 34.

planning a home remodel and planning a vacation ranked higher on the list of priorities within the past year than planning for retirement (which ranked third).

respondents

Apparently 80 is the new 65 for many middle-class Americans when it comes to retirement. One-third of survey

The majority of middle-class Americans aren’t confident in the stock marke

When survey respondents were asked what they’d do if given $5,000 to invest for retirement, only 24 percent said they’d invest in stocks – compared to 40 percent who would choose a CD or savings account and another 22 percent who would invest in gold or precious metals.

Women are less engaged in retirement planni

More than 20 percent of Americans have borrowed against their 401(k), the highest percentage since 1996, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute. The average loan size is 14 percent of the remaining account balance.

About 95 percent of companies are back to matching 401(k) contributions, but only 30 percent of employees are taking advantage of this, according to a survey by the nonprofit Plan Sponsor Council of America.

Forty percent of Americans fear lack of retirement funds

Last year, the Fed's tests showed a majority of the nation's largest banks would be able to weather another deep recession.

Ally Financial, Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) and SunTrust (STI, Fortune 500) -- would likely need new capital from either investors or the government in the Fed's adverse economic scenario

Even more worrisome

Spain’s banking system “is running out of liquidity and running out of collateral,” since collateral has to be pledged to the ECB when it provides funds.

This means Spanish banks are lending less, a drag on economic growt

Bank of Spain figures show that net capital outflows—including bank withdrawals and sell-offs of Spanish stocks and bonds—equaled more than 50% of the country’s economic output over the year ended July 31