Olmert's Instability May Hurt the Economy

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has survived one political and corruption crisis after another, but his shaky government worries the Standard & Poor's financial assessment firm, which is studying whether to downgrade Israel's debt rating as fears of a recession grow. Finance Minister Ronnie Bar-On (Kadima) tried to convince S&P analysts that everything is coming up roses, if not shekels, for the economy, which until... [read full story]