Patrice Hill
The Washington Times
Washington, DC, United States
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Past articles by Patrice:
Oil export ban repeal would lower gas prices, studies show
The U.S. government has banned oil exports since the energy crisis of the 1970s, but that could change next year as Republicans take control of Congress and are backed by new studies showing that repeal of the ban would actually lower gasoline prices and be a surprising boon to consumers. → Read More
Solid start to Christmas shopping season
The Christmas shopping season started on an upbeat note, with retail sales growing by a solid 0.3 percent last month, the Census Bureau reported Friday. → Read More
U.S. economy surges ahead 3.5 percent in third quarter
U.S. economic growth barreled ahead at a brisk 3.5 percent rate this summer, exhibiting the best momentum in more than a decade and suggesting it has finally broken out of the doldrums after five years of sluggish recovery. → Read More
Fed ends extraordinary stimulus as economy mends
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday put to rest the extraordinary measures it has deployed in the more than five years since it first used them to spur economic growth and recovery from the Great Recession. → Read More
Developing world drives strong demand for coal
Coal is more popular than ever as the cheapest fuel for generating electricity in the developing world, despite efforts by the Obama administration and environmentalists to limit its use. → Read More
Saudi Arabia raises stakes in oil war with steady production, price cut
Consumers are enjoying a break from high gas prices, which have fallen below $3 a gallon in many areas, but the drop has precipitated a cold war among oil producers that has all the intrigue, suspense and looming destruction of a Tom Clancy novel. → Read More
U.S. economy again drives global growth as top rivals falter
After a long, slow convalescence from the Great Recession, the U.S. economy has emerged this year as a major force for global growth for the first time in a decade, even as some of its top rivals struggle. → Read More
China presses Congress for action on stalled IMF reforms
Congress should move quickly to approve reforms giving China and other emerging economies a greater say in the International Monetary Fund to show that the U.S. is intent on preserving its leading role in governing the world’s economy, Chinese Vice Finance Minister H. E. Guangyao Zhu said Wednesday. → Read More
Economic globalization boosts Asia, bogs down U.S. middle-class
Much has been made recently about stagnating wages for the middle class and the growing gap between the rich and the rest in America. But that's only one small part of the story. → Read More
U.S. sanctions against Russia stymie Western oil companies’ Arctic aspirations
The latest U.S. sanctions against Russia over Ukraine are starting to crimp not only the Russian economy but also major Western oil companies such as Exxon Mobil Corp., companies that have invested heavily in helping Russia tap into huge stores of oil buried offshore in remote Arctic waters and under the vast wilderness in eastern Siberia. → Read More
Fed cuts back bond-buying again as economy strengthens
The Federal Reserve moved another step toward more normal policies on interest rates Wednesday, noting a gradual improvement in the outlook for the economy and cutting back again on its bond-buying program to stimulate the economy. → Read More
U.S. incomes flat for second year in a row — Census
The median income of families in the United States edged up slightly to $51,939 last year from $51,759 in 2012, showing no significant growth for the second year in a row, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday. → Read More
Employers add 142K jobs, fewest in 8 months
The nation’s unemployment rate ticked down to 6.1 percent in August as hiring slowed at a variety of businesses, which added only 142,000 new jobs during the month, the Labor Department reported Friday morning. → Read More
Burger King’s tax inversion deal just latest move from world’s highest corporate rates
Despite public outcry over businesses such as Burger King moving their headquarters out of the U.S. to take advantage of lower taxes, look for the trend to pick up unless Congress moves to stop it. → Read More
Germany’s apprenticeships could resolve lack of skilled workers in US
If adopted widely by U.S. manufacturers and other businesses, apprenticeships have the potential to help solve a critical U.S. problem with high unemployment among youth and workers who got laid off during the recession, backers say. Despite five years of recovery from the Great Recession, many of these hard-to-employ people still can’t find jobs. → Read More
Fed’s Yellen: Depressed wages holding back workers
Top Federal Reserve officials have been surprised by the rapid decline in unemployment and improvement in the job market in the last year, but depressed wages are still holding back consumers and preventing a full economic recovery, Fed Chair Janet Yellen said Friday. → Read More
Oil and gas giants sidestep U.S., EU sanctions, keep drilling with Russia
The West’s major oil companies have been seamlessly sidestepping sanctions imposed on Russia by the U.S. and European Union, for the most part pressing full speed ahead on joint ventures to drill for oil and gas with sanctioned Russian companies and executives. → Read More
Unemployment rose to 6.2 percent in July; 209K jobs added
The U.S. unemployment rate inched up from 6.1 percent to 6.2 percent last month even as employers hired 209,000 more workers, the Labor Department reported Friday. → Read More
U.S. economy roars back in spring quarter
The U.S. economy snapped back this spring from a winter down spell, growing at a robust 4 percent annual rate in the second quarter of 2014, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. → Read More
Energy Department eyes regional gas reserves for emergency use
In another presidential foray into territory once reserved for Congress, President Obama’s Department of Energy is exploring setting up sites to store reserves of gasoline in various places around the country to provide backup when major storms and other emergencies cut off access to local fuel supplies. → Read More