subsidies

AT&T, Sprint and Verizon, which pay hefty subsidies on the iPhones their customers buy, have seen their earnings and stock prices drop since they began offering the Apple handsets.

The Republican drive to cut spending, which begins in earnest this week, marks a political gamble that the public's hunger for smaller government will trump its appetite for benefits, subsidies and other federal support.

The government is so worried about alienating middle-class voters that it is proceeding very cautiously in limiting benefits like child subsidies.

A trade panel found the company received aid that violated global trade rules, but European and American officials disagreed on how much.

The administration has pledged tax credits and subsidies to spur manufacturing but has said the lead must come from the private sector.

Federal stimulus money has sometimes gone to private companies to hire workers, instead of being used for public projects.

Farmers are benefiting from more than 15 billion yuan ($2.23 billion) in subsidies this year for appliance purchases by rural residents.

“We see a lot of rats running around. They run around on the ceilings, they eat our food,” said farmer Yang as he swatted flies in his kitchen.

“We didn’t have a fridge before. It’s much more convenient now.”

As China develops a high-tech economy, American companies like Applied Materials are building research labs there to capitalize on subsidies and cheap labor.

Aluminum producer Alcoa Inc. said Thursday it will temporarily idle production at its two smelters in Italy , affecting about 2,000 workers, after a decision by the European Union left the company's ability to secure electricity for the plants at low rates uncertain.

Two U.S. lawmakers have proposed legislation that would allow money from a huge fund that subsidizes telephone and mobile service to parts of the U.S. to also go for broadband deployment.