Growth in U.S. real imports slowed to about 3 percent in 2006, in part reflecting a drop in real terms in imports of crude oil and petroleum products.

our resolve to position Agriculture as a key revenue generating sector ranking more than OIL, is what we must pursue until it becomes a reality

Certainly, 9 percent unemployment and very slow growth is not a good situation.

Crude as oil is our responsibility.

Those high oil prices are a burden on U.S. families, on firms' production costs. But the good news is that at least so far the U.S. economy has not been slowed by the high energy prices.

Consumers going through foreclosure typically will see their credit scores drop, raising longer-term questions about their ability to rebound financially and perhaps pursue a more sustainable home purchase at some later point.