When the city of New London, Connecticut, moved to take homes in the modest Fort Trumball neighborhood by eminent domain, a group of residents resisted in court. Led by Susette Kelo, the residents eventually lost their case at the Supreme Court.

William Boyes understands why his students feel the way they do about the federal minimum wage — why they seem to universally believe that the minimum wage is a good thing. It's a good thing for them; a good thing for workers across the country; a good thing for the economy as a whole.

Last week about 140 of Arizona's leaders gathered at the Grand Canyon for the 95th Arizona Town Hall — designed to bring Arizonans together for three days of discussion, culminating in a plenary session where participants adopt a final report of findings and recommendations.

For the first time in the recession, all 50 states lost jobs over the year in September, reports Lee McPheters, editor of Economy@W. P. Carey. Before the latest figures were released, North Dakota had continued to add jobs year over year, albeit at a slowing pace.

"The idea of ownership," said W. P. Carey Economics Professor William Boyes, "is that we can do anything we want with what we own as long as it does not harm anyone else or violate anyone else's property rights." By that definition, our common concept of ownership might often be called

"The recession probably ended in June, if we had to pick a date," according to Jan Hatzius, Chief U.S. Economist at Goldman Sachs. But that doesn't mean it's time to break out the champagne.

The deepest recession since World War II was caused by the collapse of the financial sector, but that disintegration is not proof that markets don't work, said Stanford economist Edward Lazear, who was chief economic advisor to former President George W. Bush.

The way businesses and policymakers approach economic integration is quite different. Businesses tend to be pragmatic — focusing on finding immediate solutions.

We've heard since the middle of last year that the recession is over. Why, then, do people still seem so pessimistic? Why are consumers still so restrained? Why is the housing market still weak?

Recovery from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression remains incomplete, but most experts concur that the worst is behind us. Now economists, policy makers and analysts alike are asking, how did we get here?