Category Archives: Weekly Financial News

Don’t Forget the Millennials!

Popular Economics Weekly Fed Chair Janet Yellen’s current congressional testimony is saying the Fed could keep rates low for a long time to come. Why? Because unemployment is still too high, and economic growth too slow at present. The CBO … Continue reading

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Economic Recovery Is For Real

Popular Economics Weekly We are already in July, and can now see that the US economic recovery is for real, in spite of the past winter. Even economic growth is picking up, so that second quarter Gross Domestic Product might … Continue reading

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Where is Housing Affordable?

The Mortgage Corner Why aren’t there more home buyers? It seems that housing can’t really recover until household incomes recover, and household incomes are barely keeping up with inflation at the moment. We also know that can’t happen until we … Continue reading

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We Need Some Inflation!

Financial FAQs How much inflation is too much inflation? Germany thinks any inflation is too much, based on their 1920s inflation experience when burning money for fuel was cheaper than burning wood. It has led to the EU’s draconian austerity … Continue reading

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What is Yellen’s Real Unemployment Rate?

Financial FAQs Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen spoke with IMF President Christine Lagard at an epoch-making conference yesterday. It was epoch-making (with luminaries such a ex-Fed Chair Paul Volcker in attendance), because Ms. Yellen told us which unemployment rate she and … Continue reading

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Pending Home Sales Up—A Better 2014?

The Mortgage Corner Is the housing market finally beginning to thaw from the polar winter? Pending home sales rose sharply in May, with lower mortgage rates and increased inventory accelerating the market, according to the National Association of Realtors’ Pending … Continue reading

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Austerity Must End With Q1 GDP Plunge

Popular Economics Weekly The final Q1 2014 GDP growth estimate of minus (-2.9) percent, down from the second (-1) percent drop, was a shock for several reasons. Firstly, it means our domestic economy is still sputtering, five years after the … Continue reading

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Will Housing Now Lead the Recovery?

The Mortgage Corner There is still hope that housing may help this economic recovery, as it has in past recoveries. But that is only if Fed Chairman Janet Yellen succeeds in keeping interest rates—mortgage rates in particular—at their current low, … Continue reading

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When is Higher Inflation Good?

Financial FAQs The short answer is that higher inflation comes from higher growth rates, and so when an economy expands faster, then prices should also rise faster. Otherwise companies’ profits don’t rise and they won’t want to expand their businesses … Continue reading

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Will Housing Starts Pick Up?

The Mortgage Corner “An uptick in single-family permits was probably the most important feature of a May residential construction report that was otherwise somewhat softer than our forecast,” says the research firm, Wrightson ICAP. Total housing starts fell 6 percent … Continue reading

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