Economy

May 10, 2013 - The automatic federal budget cuts known as the sequester will have a severe effect on programs serving women in general and mothers in particular -- especially those living in the South. With Mother's Day approaching, we take a by-the-numbers look.

May 1, 2013 - The Arkansas-based retail giant aims to become a renewable-energy giant. But can Wal-Mart's business model ever really be considered sustainable?

April 30, 2013 - How many tragedies will it take before industry stops its relentless search for the world's cheapest wages and decides fair labor costs and safe working conditions are a part of doing business?

April 25, 2013 - A bill that would have ended North Carolina's renewable energy program appears dead in the water. How did the program's defenders prevail in the state's current archconservative environment?

April 19, 2013 - While terrorism and gun violence dominated this week's headlines, the tragedy at a Texas fertilizer plant points to another danger that for most of the population is actually a more significant threat: industrial accidents.

April 12, 2013 - The U.S. has one of the most regressive tax systems of the developed nations, and now some states including Arkansas, Louisiana and North Carolina are considering plans to make their own tax systems even more regressive.

April 9, 2013 - Young adults face dramatically high rates of unemployment, and the problem is particularly severe in Southern states, which are also grappling with high poverty rates.