Category Archives: Politics

New Fannie, Freddie Regulator Won’t Cut Loan Limits

The Mortgage Corner WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — This headline just out.  Mortgage-finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac won’t be directed to lower the limits for mortgages that they back, the new head of their federal regulator said Tuesday. In a … Continue reading

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288,000 Payroll Jobs Created

Financial FAQs Is the Great Recession finally over? It would seem so with total nonfarm payroll employment up by 288,000, and the unemployment rate down by 0.4 percentage point to 6.3 percent in April, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics … Continue reading

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Capital in 21st Century

Popular Economics Weekly All the hullabaloo re Thomas Piketty’s master economic work, Capital in the 21st Century has overlooked its real importance. Economics is finally becoming a science, rather than just social science based more on theories and formulas (such … Continue reading

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Opposing the Bully Mentality—Part II

Financial FAQs How does one stop the bullies? Put simply, find a way to stand up to them. Economic bullies behave no differently than individuals when confronted by a person or organization willing to oppose them. But how are the … Continue reading

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Q1 Wage Growth Highest in 4 Years

Popular Economics Weekly This may finally be the year when jobs and the economic recovery are for real for most Americans. Median weekly wages grew at the fastest pace in the first quarter in more than four years, according to … Continue reading

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The Bully Mentality

Popular Economics Weekly Why does the USA have such a problem with bullies?  Whether in the schools, in politics, or on Internet social media?  The result has been teenage suicides, horrendous school shootings by students who felt bullied or belittled, … Continue reading

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Yellen’s Federal Reserve To Keep Rates Low

The Mortgage Corner The Fed’s FOMC minutes of their last meeting were just released, and they show the Fed intends to keep interest rates low for as long as possible, until the unemployment rate drops substantially. And the Fed’s maintenance … Continue reading

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Jobs Recession Finally Over?

Financial FAQs Is the jobs recession finally over? It’s taken this long to bring employment back to pre-Great Recession levels. Overall employment is still slightly below the pre-recession peak (437 thousand fewer total jobs).  But private employment is now above … Continue reading

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The Ryan Budget Myth and Obamacare

Popular Economics Weekly Representative Paul Ryan has come up with his latest Republican budget proposal, and it changes nothing. It neither promotes economic growth, nor reduces the budget deficit, as with past Republican budget proposals. That’s because its real target … Continue reading

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Fed Chair Yellen Is the Workers’ Best Friend

Financial FAQs We have just heard from new Federal Reserve Chairperson Janet Yellen in her first official speech entitled, What the Federal Reserve is Doing to Promote a Stronger Job Market. Her speech not only boosted the financial markets, but … Continue reading

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