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Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Wednesday that fallout from the European debt crisis along with fears of Iran and higher oil prices posed the biggest threats to the U.S. economy.

“Europe is still facing a very difficult, very challenging period. They are likely to have weak growth,” Geithner said in an interview with Fox Business TV.

“You have, obviously, the fear of Iran and oil prices, even though that is not hurting the economy today, people can still feel that in their pocketbook today,” he said.

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Thousands of people from across Poland demonstrated noisily Friday outside Parliament to protest government plans to raise the retirement age to 67.

The law currently allows women to retire at age 60 and men at 65, but Prime Minister Donald Tusk wants to raise the retirement age to 67 for all Poles, saying it will increase pensions while reducing state debt.

The plan, supported by many economists, has angered the public. The unions are deeply unsatisfied by a new agreement the ruling coalition parties reached Thursday that would allow people to go into partial retirement earlier but with lowered monthly payments for the rest of their lives.

Piotr Duda, head of the Solidarity trade union, said the plan gives Poles the choice of “either working until death or quickly dying of hunger.”

The protesters, blowing horns and carrying Solidarity white-and-red banners, were equally vocal.

“People are not strong enough to work as long as machines, 48 years, it is physically impossible,” said Arkadiusz Maziar, a 40-year-old coal miner from Zory, in southern Poland no faxing payday loans.

“Tusk is an office clerk and he will never understand this. I am here to defend the people,” he said.

Danuta Nowaczek, a 50-year-old cook from Zabrze, in the South, does not believe that longer work would markedly improve her pension, or that she will live to benefit from it.

“This is a joke, this plan and I don’t want to work longer,” Nowaczek said. “My father did not even live to get his retirement” at 65.

The crowd showed their anger as the lawmakers were debating a motion signed by some 1.4 million Solidarity supporters to hold a referendum on the matter.

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Americans have pumped less gas every week for the past year.

During those 52 weeks, gasoline consumption dropped by 4.2 billion gallons, or 3 percent, according to MasterCard SpendingPulse. The decline is the longest since a 51-week period during the recession.

The main reason: higher gas prices. The national average for a gallon of gas is $3.88, the highest ever for this time of year, and experts say it could be $4.25 by late April. As a result, Americans are taking fewer trips to restaurants and shopping malls. When they take a vacation, they’re staying closer to home.

But the decline in gas consumption is also a sign that efforts to push car makers to produce vehicles with better gas mileage are paying off. The average new car now gets nearly 24 miles to the gallon, compared with about 20 mpg just four years ago, according to the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute.

“I’d expect to see lower gasoline consumption for several years to come,” Rice University energy expert Ken Medlock says.

Americans have cut back on fill-ups for extended periods before. In 2008, gas spiked from $3.04 to $4.11 per gallon in seven months. It wasn’t until January 2009, when the national average for gas had dropped to $1.86 that consumption increased. Drivers bought more gasoline for 23 weeks in a row.

“The spike in 2008 was a real shock to the system,” Medlock says. “There’s still a residual impact on people’s driving behavior.”

There were other stretches of reduced gas use, notably two into the 1970’s and one in the early 1980’s. But in those cases, Americans eventually went back to driving big cars and trucks that guzzled gas.

This time may be different. Medlock thinks economic growth will be too modest and gas prices will stay too high for Americans to start driving more anytime soon. Economists expect the U.S. economy to grow 2.5 percent in 2012. The government estimates that gas will average a record $3.79 per gallon for the year.

John Gamel, who oversees MasterCard SpendingPulse’s weekly consumption report, points to rising sales of fuel-efficient vehicles.

“People have gotten used to elevated prices and they’ve made their long-term purchases,” Gamel says. “They’re going to be using less fuel.”

Consumers now care more if a car gets good gas mileage than if it’s reliable, stylish or comes with a great deal, according to a survey of more than 24,000 new-vehicle owners taken last summer and fall by J.D. Power and Associates. That wasn’t the case in the nine previous years that J.D. Power conducted the survey.

Automakers have listened to consumers, and responded to stricter government fuel economy requirements. They’ve improved engines and transmissions so cars burn less fuel. They’ve also made cars more aerodynamic, boosting mileage by cutting wind drag. The government is gradually increasing gas mileage requirements so that by 2025, cars and trucks will have to average 54.5 mpg.

Between February 2011 and February 2012, the combined city-highway mileage of a new vehicle sold in the U.S rose to 23.7 mpg from 22.7. Better gas mileage has a huge impact on the overall economy. At $3.86 per gallon, U.S. drivers would save $35.8 billion per year with a 1 mpg improvement for the entire fleet of cars, trucks and buses, according to Michael Sivak, a research professor with the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute.

Consumers would appreciate the help. The rise in gas prices has been so steep that they’re still spending more on gas than a year ago despite using less.

Gasoline prices rose by 24 percent in the last 52 weeks, according to auto club AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. MasterCard, which collects purchase receipts from more than 100,000 service stations around the country, said spending on gas rose by 20 percent during the period.

In 2011, Americans spent 8.4 percent of their household income on gasoline, or about $4,155, compared with 6.7 percent in 2010, according to experts at OPIS.

W.M. Lewis, a general contractor in Anchorage, Alaska, says he is spending as much as $150 a week on gas. He’s consolidating his errands, but still limiting his driving because fuel keeps getting more expensive.

“It’s changing everybody’s plans,” he says. “You have less money to spend.”

Behind all this is the high price of oil. Brent crude, which is used to price most of the oil used to make gasoline at many U.S. coastal refineries, has jumped by 16 percent this year to more than $124 per barrel. Benchmark U.S. crude has risen 9 percent this year to more than $107 per barrel.

Increased gas use by the growing number of drivers in China and other developing nations more than makes up for the drop in the U.S. That contributes to an increase in global demand for oil, which in turn pushes the price higher. Fear of a disruption to oil supplies from the Middle East also is keeping oil prices at lofty levels.

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Krisher reported from Detroit. Associated Press Writer Rachel D’Oro in Anchorage contributed to this report.

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Federal trade officials today announced a decision to impose modest tariffs on solar panels from China after concluding that the government there unfairly subsidized manufacturers.

But the duties, ranging from 2.9 percent to 4.73 percent, are less than some analysts and industry officials had anticipated, raising questions as to how much U.S. manufacturers will benefit.

Tuesday’s decision stems from a complaint by the Oregon-based subsidiary of Germany’s SolarWorld AG and six other manufacturers accusing Chinese rivals of dumping crystalline silicon solar cells and panels in the United States at artificially low prices and receiving billions of dollars in Chinese government subsidies.

The resulting investigation is among several pending trade cases that have escalated tensions between the economic superpowers in recent months. It has also fractured the U.S. solar industry during a period of record growth.

SolarWorld sought tariffs to offset the flood of low-cost Chinese solar panels that now make up about half of the U.S. market, up from 8 percent in 2008.

Sales of Chinese-made solar panels in the U.S. has quadrupled over the past two years to $3.1 billion in 2011, according to the Commerce Department.

Meanwhile, prices in the United States fell by 50 percent, leading at least a dozen American manufacturers to close plants, lay off workers or go bankrupt, SolarWorld said.

But solar developers and installers have benefited the rapid decline that contributed to a record 1,855 megawatts of solar-power generating capacity going on line last year, according to GTM Research.

Solar developers including California-based SunEdison — a unit of O’Fallon, Mo.-based MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. — say tariffs on Chinese imports would raise prices for consumers and be a net job killer.

The majority of the U.S. solar industry’s 100,000 jobs are installers, distributors and electricians who work for small firms “downstream” of the manufacturing process, and those jobs would be in jeopardy if solar prices rise, they say.

Jigar Shah, president of the coalition, whose members include MEMC, called Tuesday’s decision is “relatively positive” and said it wouldn’t “significantly raise solar prices in the United States.”

“This decision clearly demonstrates that the Commerce Department did not find the Chinese government engaged in massive subsidization,” Shah said.

But SolarWorld and other manufacturers who brought the case said it affirms what they alleged — that Chinese manufacturers benefited from unfair government assistance.

The coalition of solar manufacturers that filed the complaint said the duties announced Tuesday are consistent with the government’s findings in other countervailing duties cases involving China.

Gordon Brinser, president of SolarWorld Industries America Inc., said Tuesday’s decision is “the first step in a process that will roll out over the next several months.”

The companies that filed the complaint didn’t ask for a specific level of countervailing duties. But they did seek anti-dumping duties of 100 percent or more. And that part of the case is yet to be decided.

The Commerce Department is continuing its look into allegations that China sold panels in U.S. at below-market prices. A separate set of anti-dumping tariffs could be imposed based on the results. A preliminary decision is expected on May 17.

“If we address unfair trade practices in the U.S. solar market, we can get back to our business of expanding American manufacturing and jobs in the renewable energy sector,” Carlo Santoro, an executive at New Jersey-based MX Solar USA, said in a statement. “We look forward to getting back to the fair and legal competition that serves everyone best.”

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The U.S. economy is growing again but faces tough challenges that call for action to create jobs and foster expansion, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Thursday.

Geithner, speaking to the Economic Club of New York, singled out rising oil prices as a stumbling block for the economy because they force consumers to pay more for gasoline at the pump.

He said the economy was now more productive than it was before the 2007-2009 financial crisis but cautioned that confidence remains fragile.

“That is why it is so important that policy makers continue to work to get the economy growing faster in the short term and not shift prematurely to fiscal restraint,” he said.

“We can’t cut our way to growth. Severe austerity now would be very damaging,” he added.

He cited a number of factors that together mean Americans are facing “a dangerous and uncertain world,” including escalating energy costs.

“There is no quick and easy fix to this problem, but it reinforces the need for more progress to develop additional sources of energy of all forms,” Geithner said.

Earlier on Thursday, Reuters reported that Britain was ready to cooperate with the United States on a release of strategic oil stocks, likely within months.

Geithner noted that at the end of 2012, the country faces a simultaneous expiry of tax cuts and big across-the-board spending cuts that together would amount to about five percent of the country’s gross domestic product.

The prospect of such a blow to national output should be a strong incentive for lawmakers to reach some compromises on taxes and spending, he suggested.

Geithner said the Obama administration is aiming for a package of measures that includes some tax increases for wealthy Americans, though that is opposed by Republicans.

“If you do not raise revenues through tax reform, then you have to find another 1 percent of GDP or roughly 1.5 trillion dollars over 10 years in additional savings from defense, Social Security, Medicare, education or low income programs,” he said.

During a question period later, Geithner said the country now faces “stark choices” about the best course for boosting growth and getting deficits down.

He suggested there was “no alternative” to raising some taxes along with reducing spending and said reductions in some benefit programs were “manageable” if they were made over time.

People are going to be reluctant to see their benefits cut unless they think that those benefit cuts are not going to sustain tax rates we can’t afford,” he said.

“They go together. There’s no alternative. It’s going to have to happen and it’s better for us if it happened sooner and with design in it than happen too late without the opportunity for people to adjust,” Geithner added.

He noted that research shows that recoveries that follow financial crises tended to be “more tentative and uneven” and said it likely will take years to fully repair damage caused by the last one.

In response to questions, Geithner said that actions by the European Central Bank to keep markets liquid as well as actions by new governments in Italy and Spain had “substantially calmed the really acute financial tensions of the past 18 months” and reduced downside risks to the global economy.

“For that to be sustained, we’re going to need to keep a close eye on oil and Iran and gas prices plus we’ve got to make sure Europe keeps moving to sustain its progress,” he added.

If Europe builds a stronger financial firewall, Geithner said it would be appropriate for the International Monetary Fund to raise more resources and play a larger role in helping Europe. “If Europe moves on that front, I think you’ll see the IMF try to reinforce that,” he said.

Geithner said the United States must also prepare for a future in which emerging-market countries like Mexico, China and Brazil are getting better at competing and are putting pressure on American jobs.

One way to do that is by reforming a corporate tax system that Geithner described as “a complex and unfair mess of subsidies…with a very high statutory rate” of tax that varies across industries. It needs to be reformed to encourage U.S. businesses to keep production at home, he suggested.

Geithner has previously indicated that he is staying in the Obama administration through this year’s elections but, even if President Barack Obama is reelected, would not be back in a second term.

He said the country can’t let up on the effort to reduce deficits and said Americans should beware of promises that tax cuts can pay for themselves.

“No responsible politician can offer the nation fiscal sustainability through trillions in unpaid-for tax cuts,” Geithner added.

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The resilience of the largest U.S. financial firms when tested against a recession more severe than the last one shows regulators have succeeded in pushing banks to build fortress-like balance sheets.

The Fed yesterday said 15 of 19 banks would be able to maintain capital levels above a regulatory minimum in an

Attacks against al-Qaida’s favorite targets in Iraq killed 14 people Monday as insurgents struck security forces, a government office and jewelry stores, demonstrating a continued threat from armed groups as the country prepares to host a meeting of the Arab world’s top leaders.

Security officials expect al-Qaida to ramp up violence over the next few weeks as Baghdad prepares to host the annual Arab League summit at the end of the month.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Monday’s strikes, and numerous armed groups in Iraq have mixed attacks on political targets with money-making criminal operations. But al-Qaida in Iraq for years has been believed to fund itself in part with cash and gold stolen from jewelry stores.

Militants struck first in a pre-dawn raid Monday in the city of Tarmiyah, 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Baghdad, where police said gunmen in at least two cars attacked the local mayor’s office. Three policemen were killed, police and health officials said. The mayor was not in his office at the time.

A half hour later and a few miles (kilometers) away, gunmen targeted a police patrol in a drive-by shooting. Two policemen were killed, officials said, and it was not known if the gunmen were the same group who attacked the mayor’s office.

A few hours later, two carloads of robbers armed with grenades and guns killed nine people and wounded 14 in a coordinated strike on an eastern Baghdad gold market, officials said. The militants simultaneously attacked jewelry stores and a nearby checkpoint.

Baghdad officials said two policemen, two soldiers and two goldsmiths were among the dead at the small market in the Shiite neighborhood of Ur.

“At first we heard shootings from the other side of the market, near the police checkpoint,” said eyewitness Maitham Moussa, 30, who owns of a dairy shop about 50 yards (meters) from the jewelry stores payday advance low fees. “Then we heard shootings very close to us. When the women started to yell, they started to open fire into the air and set off sound bombs.”

He said people fled the area and huddled together in a nearby alley to escape the siege. “I saw a woman was lying on the ground with a toddler,” Moussa said. “There was blood near the woman, but I’m not sure if she was injured or if was the baby’s blood.”

A police officer said the gunmen stole gold and cash after the late-morning heist, which the insurgents pulled off despite a gunfight with nearby security forces. Iraqi Army Gen. Hassan al-Baydhani of Baghdad’s military command said one of the gunmen was arrested but the rest escaped.

A doctor in a nearby Baghdad hospital confirmed the police casualty figures. They all spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to release information. Al-Baydhani put the number of dead at six. Conflicting casualty totals are common in the immediate aftermath of attacks in Iraq.

Although violence has dropped significantly since the sectarian fighting that brought Iraq to the edge of civil war just five years ago, deadly attacks still happen almost every day.

U.S. officials as recently as September said jewelry robberies were a main source of funding for al-Qaida in Iraq as it grapples with dwindling financial support. The Sunni militant movement also frequently targets officials of the Shiite-led government in a campaign to undermine confidence in its authority.

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Consumers earned a little more in January and spent most of the extra money. The gains should keep the economy growing at a modest pace.

The Commerce Department said Thursday that consumer spending increased 0.2 percent in January. That’s also better than December’s reading of no change.

Americans’ income rose 0.3 percent, the second straight monthly increase.

Income barely kept pace with inflation last year. So the increases are a positive sign that consumers will have more money to spend.

Stronger hiring in December and January, rather than pay raises, helped boost income. Still, that trend should fuel more consumer spending and support solid growth for the economy in coming months. Consumer spending accounts for 70 percent of economic activity.

Economists are worried that Americans might cut back on spending if their paychecks don’t increase this year.

Incomes were much higher in the second half of last year than previously thought, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. Still, even with the revision, after-tax incomes adjusted for inflation rose only 1.3 percent in 2011. Except for the recession year of 2009, when incomes fell, that’s the smallest annual growth in incomes since 1991.

Consumer spending rose 2.1 percent in the final three months of last year, and economists expect a similar increase in the current quarter. That should help the economy expand at about a 2 percent pace in the January-March period.

Most economists expect growth should rise to 2.5 percent this year. That would be healthy in most years but is modest coming after the worst recession since World War II.

The increase in income stems from more hiring, greater overtime and small pay gains. Employers added 243,000 jobs in January, the most in nine months. The unemployment rate has fallen for five straight months, to 8.3 percent.

Manufacturing workers worked more overtime in January. And average hourly earnings rose 4 cents to $23.29, the Labor Department said earlier this month.

Other changes may also boost incomes. About 55 million Social Security recipients will get a 3.6 percent increase in their benefit checks, intended to offset rising inflation last year.

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Bank of America announced plans Thursday to freeze pension plans, effective in July, and increase its 401(k) contributions instead.

Eligible employees will keep the pension benefits that they’ve earned to date but will not receive additional benefits, Bank of America (, Fortune 500) spokesman Scott Silvestri said.

The company will instead begin making an additional 2-3% annual contribution to employees’ 401(k) accounts, on top of the existing program that matches employee contributions up to 5%.

"Making these changes simplifies our offerings, gives employees control in managing their retirement savings and ensures our retirement benefits remain competitive," Silvestri said in an email instant payday loan lenders.

U.S. companies are increasingly moving away from traditional pensions and toward 401(k) plans in an effort to save costs and minimize funding uncertainty. Last week, General Motors (, Fortune 500) announced that it had shifted its senior salaried workers away from a traditional pension plan to a 401(k) plan.

Bank of America had roughly 282,000 full-time employees as of December. In September, the bank announced plans to eliminate 30,000 positions over the next few years. 

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Can the market sustain its rally, or will prospects of a Greek default shatter investors’ risk appetite?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average () closed at its highest level since 2008 Friday. For the year, the Dow is up almost 6%, and the S&P 500 () is up more than 8%. The Nasdaq () has made an impressive 13% run.

Yet, the possibility of a Greek default looms large over world markets. European finance ministers will meet Monday, and are expected to sign off on Greece’s latest economic reform proposal.

Greece needs that sign off from Europe’s finance ministers to avoid defaulting on a €14.5 billion bond payment due March 20. Another delay is unlikely to rattle the markets, but if it becomes clear that Greece will default, markets strategists fear a sharp sell-off.

"Markets have priced in a positive outcome," said Joseph Tanious, global market strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management.

All three indexes posted solid gains for the week, as investors largely ignored concerns over Greece and focused squarely on better-than-expected economic reports in the United States. The S&P was up 1.4%.

With few key economic reports on the agenda this week, and U.S. markets closed Monday in observance of Presidents’ Day, investors will keep an eye on quarterly earnings from major retailers to assess the health of the American consumer fast payday loan no faxing.

"There will be a heightened sensitivity to retailers and their earnings to either confirm that the U.S. economy is picking up and recovering or cast a doubt on the consumer’s appetite," said Tanious.

On Tuesday, retailers Barnes & Noble (, Fortune 500), Home Depot (, Fortune 500), Macy’s (, Fortune 500), Wal-Mart (, Fortune 500) and Saks () will report quarterly results.

On Thursday, Kohl’s, Sears (, Fortune 500), Target (, Fortune 500) and Gap (, Fortune 500) will report.

On Friday, J.C. Penney (, Fortune 500) will release its earnings.

Other quarterly earnings due out next week include Dell (, Fortune 500) and Kraft (, Fortune 500) on Tuesday and Hewlett-Packard (, Fortune 500) on Wednesday

Meanwhile, investors will continue to monitor developments in Iran to determine whether concerns over the country’s nuclear program will drive up the price of oil.

U.S. crude oil rose 3% last week to close at $102.35, and economists worry that further increases in oil prices could threaten the global economy.

"I’m watching oil with trepidation," said Ram Bhagavatula, partner at the hedge fund Combinatorics Capital. "It’s the one thing that could threaten the recovery." 

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