Presidential adviser Larry Summers started his speech in St. Louis today on an optimistic note, discussing the economy’s improvement in the past few months, but he quickly switched to talking about ways in which the glass is half empty. Summers,…

When the Federal Reserve released its Beige Book economic survey a couple of weeks ago, the St. Louis region was the only area that didn’t report stable or improving economic conditions. It should be no surprise, then, that when the St.…

Why does anyone think it’s a good idea for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to borrow money from some of the nation’s largest banks? That’s a trial balloon being floated by the agency, which insures deposits and regulates banks’ safety and…

In the big picture, Americans are borrowing less and saving more. But at RegionsBank branches in the St. Louis area, customers are doing more of both. Sally Roth, the bank’s area president, says that loans are up 9 percent and…

Fed officials such as James Bullard, Thomas Hoenig and Gary Stern have spoken eloquently about the need to address banking’s too-big-to-fail problem, but in the real world, bank regulators haven’t done much about it. In fact, the Washington Post reported last week,…

Any politician worth his or her salt can attack Wall Street’s super-sized bonuses on fairness grounds. They’re bad because greedy bankers laid the economy to waste, they’re undeserved because taxpayers just  bailed out the banks, and so on.

It’s a much…

If you think you are (or your broker is) smart enough to beat the market, be sure to read Bloomberg’s analysis of recommendations by the top Wall Street analysts. Reporters Lynn Thomasson and Adria Cimino go back to March, just before…

What’s the status of the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency? What’s the SEC doing about hedge funds? If you’re having trouble keeping up with all the new proposals for financial regulation, the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank has a resource for you. …

Illinois isn’t the hardest-hit state in this recession — Michigan has lost far more jobs, and housing problems are worse in states like California and Arizona. The Land of Lincoln does, however, lead the league with 12 bank closings so…

CNBC’s “Power Lunch” came to St. Louis yesterday to interview James Bullard, president of the local Federal Reserve Bank. He’ll be a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee next year, so reporter Steve Liesman wanted to know what the…