Free Republic

Plans For High-Speed Rail Are Slowing Down President Obama set a goal of giving 80 percent of Americans access to high-speed rail within the next quarter century. Here’s a look at the high-speed rail industry around the world. By Michael A. Fletcher January 15 PALO ALTO, Calif. — Critics began panning the first leg of California’s futuristic high-speed rail network as a “train to nowhere” soon after officials decided to build it not in the major population centers of Los Angeles or San Francisco, but through the state’s Central Valley farming belt. Since then, things have only gotten worse. Spiraling...

WASHINGTON : The US employment outlook brightened after the government said jobless claims dropped last week to the lowest since ’00, bolstering expectations for strong numbers in the April jobs report. The dollar closed broadly higher on the unexpectedly rosy number and bond yields rose as markets bet the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates this summer as the economy warms. The picture of a better jobs climate was also backed by an unexpected increase in unit labour costs in the first quarter, alongside respectable productivity growth of 3.5%. First-time claims for state unemployment benefits shrank 25,000 to 315,000 in...