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The article discusses Timothy F. Geithner's appointment as United States Treasury Secretary. Geithner, who was formerly president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, will face many challenges with the treasury as he attempts to deal with a global economic recession in 2009. The author attempts to predict Geithner's actions. INSETS: GEITHNER'S CHECKLIST;PAYDAY.

The article provides projections regarding what the economic outlook may be like in 2010 in various industry sectors in the U.S. and around the world. According to the author the U.S. economy can continue to recover unless there is another banking crisis or increased interest rates. Also discussed is the potential lack of economic growth in China, Japan and Europe, the expansion of nontraditional media, and the economic outlook for the automobile and energy industry.

The article looks at instances of people repaying or rejecting government money. William A. Cooper, chief executive officer of TCF Financial. TCF became the largest bank to repay the U.S. government's Troubled Asset Relief Program bailout money by returning $361 million on April 22, 2009. Mark Sanford, governor of South Carolina, denied $700 million in education stimulus funds because he did not like the terms.

In the article the author discusses a flat sales tax rate on mail orders and online shopping and its impact on U.S. states. The author comments that the U.S. federal government is hesitant to create a taxation on mail ordered goods, and there has to be unity in taxation policies from state to state for there to be an interstate sales tax.

The article reports on the job market in the U.S. Many are disbelieving of economic recovery in the U.S. because small businesses, those companies with 100 employees or less, accounted for 19% of all 4 million jobs which were lost in the U.S. during 2001. By the end of 2008 small businesses accounted for 48% of all job losses. Economist and author David Birch stated in 1979 that small businesses generated the most jobs but he revised this statement in 1994 to rapidly expanding companies.

A graph that illustrates the credit default swaps on U.S. Treasury securities since March 16, 2008 is presented.

The article focuses on the increase in Americans that work in the 'shadow economy,' which is the non-taxed, underground economy in the U.S. Topics include the unemployment rate in the U.S. in 2013, the income generated by the shadow economy annually, and how the shadow economy leads to discrepancies in U.S. economic data.

The article looks at how regulators and bankers are working to prevent a potential boom-and-bust cycle due to rising 2011 farmland prices in the U.S. Topics discussed include how the U.S. Federal Reserve banks and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) are investigating agriculture bank loans, conferences held by organizations including the U.S. Farm Credit Administration, and a previous farmland bubble in the 1970s. A chart of farmland prices from 1995 to 2010 is included.

The article examines an increase in rents for U.S. rental housing. A five percent rise in U.S. apartment rents in 2010-2011 is cited, and attributed to increased demand for rental housing due to the collapse of home prices. The possibility rent increases will cause overall inflation, forcing the Federal Reserve Board to raise interest rates, is considered.

The article discusses U.S. unemployment, low-paying jobs being accepted by the unemployed, and the effects of same on consumer spending and the economy. A report by economist Paul Ashworth on pre- and post-recession employment in the U.S. is noted. Limitations in management and other high-paying jobs are discussed, while citing projections of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The article discusses inflation in the U.S. Despite substantial liquidity pumped into the U.S. financial system by the Federal Reserve, inflation remains low largely due to an elevated unemployment rate. A declining rate of growth in the money supply suggests the inflation rate could fall further, and maybe even become deflation.

The article reports on the findings of the stress tests by the U.S. Federal Reserve which suggested that banking companies like JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. must demonstate that they can survive following the departure of a trading partner or a drop in value of high-risk business loans.

The article discusses the initiatives of several unemployed people in the U.S. to make a living. It states that unemployed people resort to activities including prostitution, drug dealing and more routine jobs such as working in construction for day to day basis. Mitchell Hirsch, an advocate for unemployed workers with New York-based National Employment Law Project, mentions the increasing frequency of unemployed workers entering the shadow economy.

The article offers information on the increasing prices of farmland in the U.S. It states that farmland prices were 30 percent higher in Nebraska in the second quarter than a year ago, according to a survey by the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank, driven by elevated crop prices, soaring farm income, and record-low interest rates.

A graph shows a rising trend in the amount of cash placed in circulation in the U.S. from 1996 through 2011.

The article comments on a mismatch in the U.S. between the skills of the unemployed and the skills firms need, and presents a graph illustrating U.S. job openings and the unemployment rate since June of 2001.