FRANKFURT, Germany - March 22, 2011 - The United States is on a fiscal path towards insolvency and policymakers are at a "tipping point," a Federal Reserve official said on Tuesday.

LISBON, Portugal - March 22, 2011 - Portugal's government is on the verge of collapse after opposition parties withdrew their support for another round of austerity policies aimed at averting a financial bailout.

The expected defeat of the minority government's latest spending plans in a parliamentary vote Wednesday will likely force its resignation and could stall national and European efforts to deal with the continent's protracted debt crisis.

WASHINGTON - March 21, 2011 - Sales of previously owned U.S. homes plunged in February and prices hit their lowest level in nearly nine years, implying a housing market recovery was still far in the future.

LONDON, England - March 21, 2011 - U.S. shoppers plan to wait until next year and beyond to spend generously again, in an early sign that rising gasoline prices could make the spring selling season tough for retailers.

WASHINGTON - March 19, 2011 - Three Republican lawmakers are seeking to force Uncle Sam to sell about 3.3 million acres of land he no longer needs to help pay down the national debt.

Senators John McCain of Arizona and Mike Lee of Utah, and Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah, introduced legislation this week in their respective chambers that would order Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to dispose of federal property that the Clinton regime identified in a 1997 report as suitable for sale.

CHICAGO, Illinois - March 18, 2011 - A shortage of car parts from disaster-struck Japan has forced General Motors to temporarily shutter one of its factories in the United States, the firm said Thursday.

WASHINGTON - March 18, 2011 - One would think that during the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, Amerikans could at least catch a break for a while with deflationary forces keeping the cost of living relatively low. That’s not the case.