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November 13, 2012 The alternative minimum tax is looming over about 27 million more taxpayers this year. It's just one part of the so-called fiscal cliff — a big cluster of automatic spending cuts and tax hikes that will occur if Congress does not act. Those taxpayers could end up paying an average of $3,700 more without a fix.

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November 13, 2012 KHNPeople hoping to save a few dollars by choosing insurance with low upfront costs may be losing out. Hospitals and other health care providers sometimes fail to apply discounts when individuals, rather than insurers, are paying the bills.

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November 11, 2012 From higher payroll taxes to automatic cuts in military spending, the looming budget crisis could drag the economy back into recession and create turmoil in the financial markets, economists say. To better understand what's at stake, have a look at some of the key phrases involved in the crisis.

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November 7, 2012 Concerned that the White House and Congress won't be able to agree on how to avoid deep spending cuts and tax increases, many investors sold stocks.

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November 4, 2012 When the presidential candidates speak about the "middle class," they're making a safe bet that you'll think they're talking to you. The middle class doesn't have an economic definition, and Americans of widely varying income levels identify with it. The class-based term seems to have lost its distinction.

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November 2, 2012 The estimated price tag for Superstorm Sandy could run as high as $50 billion. But homeowners and businesses in the Northeast aren't just dealing with damage from Sandy; they're also dealing with insurance companies. And figuring out what's covered and what's not can get very complicated.

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October 30, 2012 The current tax policy is evaluated on fairness, sufficiency and efficiency in this Intelligence Squared U.S. debate. Among the questions the panelists tackle are: Is the system fair? Does it create enough revenue? And will it promote economic growth?

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October 29, 2012 Like millions of other people, I stocked up on canned food this weekend. Why didn't grocery stores raise prices to take advantage of the pre-hurricane rush?

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October 27, 2012 The presidential candidates won't let up on their economic talk, but job creation has stolen housing's thunder. Energizing the housing market could drive economic recovery, but a number of economic and political potholes lie ahead.

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October 24, 2012 Both President Obama and Mitt Romney have suggested ways to scale back the deduction's value for wealthy taxpayers. It's one of the keys to helping reduce the federal budget deficit, but the real estate industry says the housing market is too fragile to eliminate the tax break altogether.

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