March 2011

Mar 23, 2011

Will workers get a pay raise this year?

With unemployment so high workers have just felt lucky to have a job. They haven’t really focused on pay raises. But now with the economy coming back and unemployment being down slightly, will there be a little bit more in paychecks? N.C. State University economist Mike Walden responds. 

Mar 22, 2011

New plant breeding technology is topic of Wernsman Lecture

Geoff Graham, senior director of North America Maize Product Development for Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc., will deliver the 11th annual Earl A. Wernsman Seminar on April 8, 2 p.m., in 216 Mann Hall, N.C. State University. The student-arranged lecture is sponsored by the Crop Science Graduate Student Association. 

Mar 22, 2011

Will foreclosures back off?

Having one’s home foreclosed on has to be one of the world’s worst financial traumas ever. Yet this is exactly what has happened to millions of homeowners in the last… 

Mar 21, 2011

Rising mortgage interest rates

Recently 30-year fixed mortgage interest rates hit 5 percent. This rate is up almost 1 percentage point in the last couple of months. But N.C. State University economist Mike Walden doesn't think this rate hike signals an end to low-cost financing of homes. 

Mar 18, 2011

YOU DECIDE: Is the economic recovery 'normal'?

The economic recession of 2007-09 was unusually harsh; it's been called The Great Recession. So what's the recovery like? Mike Walden discusses. 

Mar 18, 2011

Worldwide inflation

Inflation in the United States has begun to creep higher but is still in the 2 percent range. However, inflation in countries such as China, India and Brazil is significantly higher -- in the 4 to 6 percent range. Does this mean we should be smiling rather than complaining? N.C. State University economist Mike Walden responds. 

Mar 17, 2011

Matt Silliman remembered with 4-H Camp Millstone meditation garden

On Saturday, March 19, 4-H Camp Millstone will host a tree planting and dedicate a meditation garden in memory of Matthew Silliman, who was a 4-H’er and counselor at the camp. Silliman’s life was taken by youth violence in November 2008. 

Mar 17, 2011

Anson County farmer starts with Extension to get on award-winning track

Bryan Cash is justifiably proud of his cattle herd in Anson County. When he bought his first cows more than a decade ago, he knew very little about what it took to raise them. But now, the award-winning farmer has a herd of close to 70 healthy cows, plus 42 calves that are thriving. “Everything that you see out there today, I wanted it, and I did it, but without my Extension agent Richard Melton, (the farm) wouldn’t be where it is today,” Cash says. 

Mar 17, 2011

Louws to direct Center for Integrated Pest Management

Dr. Frank Louws has been named director of N.C. State University's Center for Integrated Pest Management. Louws is a professor of plant pathology and has been a faculty member at N.C. State since 1996. He earned a doctorate from Michigan State University, as well as bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Guelph in Canada. 

Mar 17, 2011

Will home sales surge this year?

The housing market has been at the core of the recession. Declining home sales and prices have been, perhaps, the main reasons why this recession was so bad. But at least one economic analyst has optimism for home sales this year. N.C. State University economist Mike Walden explains why.