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In her first public speech on monetary policy, Janet Yellen made it clear that the Fed intends to pursue a more rules-based, less discretionary policy. This is good news. The bad news, however, is that Yellen focused only on employment and inflation. In that same speech, not a single word was said about attending to speculative risks or financial instability (which are inherent in Fed-induced, yield-seeking speculation). Without attending to that third leg, the Fed is resting the fate of the U.S. economy on a two-legged stool.

Although economic growth in the United States continues to be as strong as in many other countries, or stronger, a small percentage of American households is fully benefiting from it. Median income in Canada pulled into a tie with median United States income in 2010 and has most likely surpassed it since then

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The jump is almost exclusively the result of financial hardship caused by the recession rather than for other reasons, such as the need to care for aging parents, said Steven P. Wallace, a UCLA professor of public health who crunched the data.

Many more young adults live with their parents than those in their 50s and early 60s live with theirs. Among 18- to 29-year-olds, 1.6 million Californians have taken up residence in their childhood bedrooms, according to the data.

Though that's a 33% jump from 2006, the pace is half that of the 50 to 64 age group.

The surge in middle-aged people moving in with parents reflects the grim economic reality that has taken hold in the aftermath of the Great Recession.

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Long-term unemployment is especially acute for older people. The number of Americans 55 and older who have been out of work for a year or more was 617,000 at the end of December, a fivefold jump from the end of 2007 when the recession hit, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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"I said 'Mom, I'm so sorry but I don't know what to do,'" she said. "I dreaded it. If it wasn't for my boys I wouldn't have done it. I would have lived in my car."

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It doesn't take a Ph.D. from MIT or Princeton to imagine that in an age of fiat money, the top decile would have an easier time making hay than would the denizens of the other nine deciles, who aren't trained in the art of swaps and derivatives.

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The lackluster results from McDonald's landed a few days after Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc, the popular burrito chain it spun off in 2006, said its first-quarter same-restaurant sales jumped 13.4 percent. Chipotle caters to a wealthier consumer than McDonald's and it serves on-trend food, including dishes made with organic produce and antibiotic-free meats. It is It is planning to begin raising prices at the end of this quarter to offset higher costs.

Colonial's colossal failure prompted the first lawsuit filed by the FDIC against a failed bank's accountants, according to court records and media reports.

"Colonial's closure was triggered by the discovery that its largest mortgage banking customer, Taylor Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp., had committed a massive, multi-year fraud against Colonial, resulting in financial statements that grossly misstated Colonial's true financial condition," according to a lawsuit filed Oct. 31, 2012 by FDIC against PwC, which served as the bank's external auditor and Crowe Horwath, which provided internal audit services.''

Now Wells must produce a witness with knowledge of the manual who can answer lawyer Linda Tirelli's questions under oath.

Tirelli is alleging that endorsements on the homeowner's note are "fraudulent in nature." A note is an IOU to the bank, while a mortgage ties a given property to the loan.''