Henry Paulson

The government has abandoned the original centerpiece of its $700 billion rescue effort for the financial system and will not use the money to purchase troubled bank assets.

An already disheartened Wall Street turned sharply lower Wednesday after Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said the government won’t buy banks’ soured mortgage assets after all, disappointing investors who hoped to see the bad debt wiped off companies’ books. The Dow Jones industrials fell more than 270 points, and all the major indexes dropped more than […]

Momentum increased Monday for a new economic stimulus package to help cash-strapped Americans as President Bush and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke threw their weight behind an idea they earlier opposed.

Beaten down by housing, credit and financial crises, the bruised economy is likely to drag into next year, leaving more people out of work and more businesses wary of making big investments.

The country hit fresh economic potholes Wednesday as President Bush sought to reassure anxious Americans that the government’s latest rescue plan will eventually bring relief.