Author Archives: Popular Economics Weekly

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About Popular Economics Weekly

Harlan Green is editor/publisher of PopularEconomics.com, and content provider of 3 weekly columns to various blogs--Popular Economics Weekly, Financial FAQs and the Mortgage Corner.

Fannie and Freddie Didn’t Do It!

Financial FAQs As if further confirmation was needed that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were not even a minor cause of the housing bubble and consequent bust, the latest judgment against Nomura Securities for selling fraudulent mortgages to Fannie and … Continue reading →

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2015 Housing Construction Will Surge

The Mortgage Corner We believe housing construction is about to bloom this spring, due to growing employment. For starters, an additional 45,000 construction jobs were added to nonfarm payrolls in April. This is even though construction spending to date has … Continue reading →

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Repubs Anti-Science Agenda Endangers US

Financial FAQs Last week, the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, headed by Texas Republican Lamar Smith, approved a bill that would slash at least three hundred million dollars from NASA’s earth-science budget, says the New Yorker’s Elizabeth Colbert. “Earth … Continue reading →

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Baltimore and the Lessons of Inequality

Financial FAQs David Brook’s most recent New York Times Oped talks about the dissolution of social bonds in Baltimore neighborhoods. “Even in poorest Baltimore, there once were informal rules of behavior governing how cops interacted with citizens,” he says in … Continue reading →

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March New-Home Sales A Dud

“Sales of new single-family houses in March 2015 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 481,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 11.4 percent … Continue reading →

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March Existing-Home Sales Spike

The Mortgage Corner Total existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, increased 6.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.19 million in March from 4.89 million in February—the highest annual rate … Continue reading →

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Fannie Says Better Growth For Rest of 2015

Popular Economics Weekly “Economic activity was suppressed in the first quarter due largely to the West Coast port disruptions and difficult weather patterns across the Northeast, but the economy is expected to gain momentum throughout the spring and reach previously … Continue reading →

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Germany’s Failed Austerity Policies

Financial FAQs One would think by now the debate has been resolved on which economic model created the better recovery for this Great Recession or Lessor Depression, as P Krugman has called it. But no, Germany’s Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble … Continue reading →

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Expanding Social Security – Decreasing Inequality

Popular Economics Weekly What, you say? We should expand, not shrink, social security benefits in the face of horrendous budget deficits of late? Elizabeth Warren put into the Senate Budget proposal for 2015 an amendment to protect social security, and … Continue reading →

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Mortgage Delinquencies Close to Pre-Recession Lows.

The Mortgage Corner Calculated Risk reports Black Knight Financial Services (BKFS) released their Mortgage Monitor report for February on Monday. According to BKFS, 5.36 percent of mortgages were delinquent in February, down from 5.56 percent in January. BKFS reported that … Continue reading →

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