Category Archives: Politics

Economic Growth Still Too Slow

Popular Economics Weekly Part of the debate over whether the Fed’s QE3 purchases of securities should end is based on economic growth.  I.e., why isn’t U.S. Gross Domestic Product growing faster than the average annual 2.2 percent rate? Actually, Q1 … Continue reading

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Why Is QE3 So Important For Housing?

The Mortgage Corner Alas, it does look like the Fed’s Governors are about to slow down the $85 Billion in monthly purchases of Treasury Bonds and Mortgage Backed Securities that have been holding down long term interest rates since last … Continue reading

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What’s The Fed To Do?

Popular Economics Weekly Why the debate over who should be the next Federal Reserve Chairman? There is a tug of war going on between inflation ‘doves’ and ‘hawks’ within the Fed. The debate is whether inflation is or will be … Continue reading

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Inflation Is Not The Problem

Popular Economics Weekly All the talk that QE3 is about to end centers on when the Fed believes inflation will become a problem. Fed Chairman Bernanke doesn’t believe inflation will be a problem, as long as wages aren’t growing. And … Continue reading

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Are Home Prices Rising Too Fast?

The Mortgage Corner No, they are just catching up to 4 years of weak household formation and even weaker income growth. Home prices have been held down from a combination of government austerity policies and private sector hoarding since the … Continue reading

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QE3 Works, So Please Don’t Mess With It!

Financial FAQs Dear Federal Reserve Governors; Please don’t mess with QE3 just yet! Not in September, or even December. There are still too many reasons not to begin to taper the $85 billion per month in purchases that have kept … Continue reading

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Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac Dilemma Won’t End Soon

Popular Economics Weekly The U.S. Treasury is in a bind. Everyone seems to agree that Fannie and Freddie, wards of the government should be downsized, but how to do it without damaging the housing recovery? Extreme conservatives even want to … Continue reading

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Pending Home Sales, Prices Continue to Rise

The Mortgage Corner Those who doubt the real estate recovery aren’t paying attention to the latest sales’ data. We reported last week the Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, rose 0.3 percent to 106.0 in … Continue reading

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What Will the Federal Reserve Do??

Popular Economics Weekly Now the fat’s in the fire. Both stocks and bond prices have been falling of late, due to the fear that the Fed will end its $85 billion per month QE purchases of Treasury and mortgage securities … Continue reading

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Social Security Isn’t Dead

Popular Economics Weekly Social Security isn’t dead, or even dying, in spite of the prediction by the Social Security Trustees that it will no longer be able to pay full benefits by 2033. That’s because the Trustees use what are … Continue reading

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