It's a busy week on the economic calendar, with the consumer price index, data on housing starts and the Philly Fed index all expected.

Oil prices have soared nearly 10 percent in the past four sessions alone, and CNBC asked the experts for insights and answers.

The U.S. credit crisis is easing and the risk in housing is dramatically lower now, but economic growth will remain under pressure , the CEO of Merrill Lynch said.

US businesses cut back sharply on worker hours during the first three months of this year as the economy slowed, driving up productivity to a higher-than-expected 2.2 percent annual pace.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said U.S. financial markets are emerging from the credit crunch that many economists believe has pushed the country to the brink of recession, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Monday said conditions in mortgage markets remain strained, posing a threat to the economy, and urged steps be taken to prevent home foreclosure where possible

President Bush sought to assure Americans Saturday that federal checks en route to them as part of a stimulus plan will help spur the ailing economy and pay for soaring gas and food prices.

The U.S. Federal Reserve announced steps to help ease persistent strains in credit markets, stepping up the size of some cash auctions for financial institutions and raising the amount of U.S. dollars it provides to the European Central Bank and Swiss National Bank.

Big Wall Street investment companies are pulling back on their borrowing from the Federal Reserve's emergency lending program.

Europe's central banks should serve as an example to the Federal Reserve of how to manage an economy suffering through stagnation and liquidity issues, Pimco's Bill Gross told CNBC/Europe.

There are a lot of ways to describe what the Fed did today: it took the rate-cut punch bowl off the dining room table, but didn't pour out the punch. It took a baby-step towards neutral, not a grown-up step. That means it preserved the ability to cut if it needs to.

The full statement released by the Federal Open Market Committee after its meetings held from April 29-30 on interest rate policy.

The Federal Reserve trimmed interest rates to 2% but  left markets guessing about whether further cuts would be needed.

“The news on the economy is going to be pretty much unrelentingly bad in the next few months,” says one economist, who thinks the Fed may keep cutting after today.

Even though the economy continued to grow in the first quarter, many economists believe we're already in a recession.