Lastest Stories by Alexander E.M. Hess

Courtesy of Tesla MotorsEarth Day, observed on April 22, is a global annual celebration of the environmental movement. The day and its activities date back to 1970. The environmental push over the...
ThinkstockThe U.S. unemployment rate continues to tick down, hitting a more than four-year low of just 7.6% in March. In much of Europe, however, the situation is very different. If the latest...
ThinkstockApproximately 83% of the U.S. population had some form of health insurance coverage in 2012, according to the latest data released jointly by Gallup and Healthways. While this was the first...
The U.S. unemployment rate fell 0.6 percentage points between February 2012 and February 2013, from 8.3% to 7.7% — the lowest it had been since 2008 based on seasonally adjusted figures. Meanwhile,...
ThinkstockInternational aid to developing countries fell for the second year in a row, as the European debt crisis continued to weigh heavily on the wealthiest nations. Grants and loans intended to...
ThinkstockAccording to polling service Gallup, 72% of Americans surveyed in 2012 said they felt safe walking home at night. This is a slight uptick from 2011, when 71% of respondents said they felt...
ThinkstockThe wage gap between men and women will not close for 45 years, according to new research from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. The group found that the wage gap will instead...
ThinkstockMarch gasoline prices fell for the first time in 10 years. As of April 1, the price of gas had fallen in 29 of the previous 33 days. Nationally, gas costs 30 cents a gallon less than it did...
ThinkstockThe housing market is showing signs of significant recovery. In January, home prices rose 8.1% from the year before — the most since the recession, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller...
The economy is in the midst of a strange and slow recovery. This week, the S&P broke through its 2007 pre-recession high, and yet, only 14 major metropolitan areas have regained the jobs they...
ThinkstockAmericans are more confident in the economy than they were last year, a recent Gallup poll reveals. And optimism about the national economy, it appears, is largely driven by prosperity at...
ThinkstockAccording to Census data released this week, state and local tax revenue rose in the U.S, for the 13th quarter in a row. With April 15 less than three weeks away, America’s businesses...
ThinkstockAccording to a recent study, the city with the most content residents in the United States is Lincoln, Neb. The city with the most miserable residents is Charleston, W.Va. The...
ThinkstockTourism is an increasingly important industry for many countries. According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), it accounts for 9% of global gross domestic product and is projected to...
ThinkstockThe United States is in the midst of one of the biggest droughts in recent memory. At last count, over half of the lower 48 states had abnormally dry conditions and are suffering from at...