Soaring oil prices, rising commodity costs, a cold spring, chaos in the Middle East and the uncertainty about the national debt ceiling conspired to dampen the U.S. economic recovery in the second quarter.

So, will all of these factors lead to a double-dip recession? Or did the economy merely catch its breath as it continues to rebound?

Milwaukee-area businesses are optimistic about future economic growth, according to a business outlook survey conducted by the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC).

The U.S. stock market finished the second quarter with a flourish, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rallying on the final four days of June.

Commercial real estate development ground to a halt during the Great Recession as financing became extraordinarily difficult for developers to find and demand for new projects slumped.

The residential real estate market has been in a funk since the housing market collapsed in 2007, a major contributor to the Great Recession. The number of homes sold, and the value of those homes, has decreased significantly in recent years. Many homes went into foreclosure during and after the recession, which has contributed to declining home values.

Nearly every major automobile manufacturer in the world has either developed or is developing a plug-in electric vehicle. Some, including the Chevrolet Volt, have already been released to the Wisconsin market, and most of the others will be released in various markets across the country before 2013.

Robert Deglau started using the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE, or fourth-generation, long-term evolution network, as soon as it was introduced in the Milwaukee area last month.

Health care costs constitute approximately 18 percent of the United States GDP, with the Congressional Budget Office projecting that such percentage will rise to 25 percent by 2025.

The U.S. Senate recently dealt a psychological blow to the ethanol industry by voting to repeal a federal tax credit for ethanol producers. The credit provides a 45 cents-per-gallon tax incentive to qualifying ethanol blenders of pure ethanol blended with gasoline.

How does the lack of transparency impact the success of the strategy? As U.S. health plan premium increases continue to outpace inflation, employers have shifted costs to employees, offering them difficult choices such as:

The recent season of "American Idol" included a significant shift in the approach of the judges. Absent was the caustic criticism of past seasons. The strongest message was affirming and appreciative rather than critical and demeaning. Did the change in the judges' behavior impact the performance of the contestants from week to week? There is growing evidence that in fact, it may have.