BY JENIECE PETTITT
MEDILL NEWS SERVICE

At the Voices for Illinois Children’s recent “Illinois Kids Count 2010 Symposium” at The Standard Club in Chicago, a panel discussion revolved around the topic of families in a time of economic crisis. It was a gloomy outlook for children in the state as Illinois deals with high [...]

The Producer Price Index, or wholesale prices, rose at a seasonally adjusted rate of 1.4 percent in January, mainly due to a rise in energy costs, pharmaceutical costs and light trucks, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.

Brazil possesses one of the highest proportions of private sector universities in both Latin America and the world, according to the World Bank.
As the middle class grows and  GDP rises, the demand for higher education is going to continue to grow in Brazil and other emerging markets around the world.

Is the “Whole Foods Boycott” impacting the company’s financials? Not yet. (Image via Creative Commons)

BY KATIE ROGERS – MEDILL NEWS SERVICE

Nearly 29,000 people now subscribe to a Facebook group calling for a boycott of Whole Foods Market Inc. since CEO John Mackey wrote an op-ed against proposed methods [...]

Chicago foreclosure activity counts by zip code/Realtytrac.com

BY MEGAN MOLLMANN – MEDILL NEWS SERVICE

Foreclosures increased 7 percent nationwide in July, according to Realtytrac.com. Illinois came in fifth place for total foreclosure activity, with 14,524 properties receiving a foreclosure filing, and default notices skyrocketed 86 percent during the month, said Realtytrac in a press [...]

Image via ILIGHT/Flickr.com

BY JORDAN MELNICK – MEDILL NEWS SERVICE

There’s no question about it: Obamacare is officially under siege. While the president might have hoped August would be a quiet month with Congress in recess, it has been anything but. Early in the month, there were reports of fervent protests at [...]

Unemployment self-portrait by Diego Cupolo/Flickr.com

BY KATIE ROGERS – MEDILL NEWS SERVICE

On the heels of Tuesday reports indicating green shoots in the Chicago area housing market, and the Fed’s Beige Book Wednesday suggesting a slightly more optimistic economic outlook, The Bureau of Labor Statistics released a bleaker [...]

RealtyTrac.com/Estimated Chicago home values from Nov. 2006 -June 2009

BY MEGAN MOLLMANN – MEDILL NEWS SERVICE

Home prices in the Chicago metropolitan area rose 1.1 percent in May from April of this year and ended a 10-month spree of falling home values, according to the the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index report released [...]

Creative Commons photo by Flickr user JCardinal18

By Kellen Henry- MEDILL NEWS SERVICE

During the first three weeks of July 1944, hundreds of delegates from 44 countries gathered at the Mount Washington Resort in Bretton Woods, N.H. for the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference.

Delegates emerged from the [...]

www.flickr.com

BY MEGAN MOLLMANN – MEDILL NEWS SERVICE

Home sales statewide jumped 20.8 percent in June from May of this year, the fifth consecutive month-to-month increase, according to a report released Thursday by the Illinois Association of Realtors.

In June, 10,909 homes were sold compared to [...]