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Issue 15 News Updates

• The Bush administration has proposed an economic stimulus package that would pump nearly $150 billion into the struggling U.S. economy. The money would include tax rebate checks worth at least $300 each for millions of families. The goal is to get those families to spend the money, which will help businesses that have been caught in the economic downturn. The proposal also would include business incentives to get companies to expand and invest in new equipment and employees. Leaders of the U.S. House of Representative support the plan. It still has to make through the U.S. Senate, though. Some senators want to change the package so it also include more help for the poor, such as greater unemployment benefits and help with heating costs and food stamps.

• The U.S. treasury secretary, Henry Paulson, told Fox News on January 27: "I believe that the economy is going to continue to grow." But he also said again that Congress must approve the Bush administration’s economic stimulus package to get the economy growing quickly. "The cost of doing nothing is too great," Paulson said.

• The CEO of JP Morgan Chase bank took a more positive view on the U.S. economy. He talked about the housing market troubles while attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on January 27. "There was a housing bubble in the United States. The bubble burst and subprime was first casualty," CEO Jamie Dimon said, according to a Reuters report. "That will cure itself, and in my opinion, it is half done already.”

• There are a lot of different opinions about where the housing market stands now and what will happen next. It's tough to predict. In this report from 2005, several economists talked about booming housing market and the possibility of a future bubble burst. Three of them said there was no bubble, and one said he didn’t foresee housing prices dropping at all.

• For more issue-related updates and web-only content, check out the CE News Blog.
• The Issue 15 Teacher's Guide is available online.
  
  

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