Tag Archives: Great Recession

Thanks For Nothing, Washington!

Financial FAQs Democrats have bought the Republican lie that Democrats were the big spenders, it seems, with the draconian federal budget cuts enacted over the past 2 years. But recent statistics show it’s been the Republicans since 1980 that created … Continue reading

Posted in Consumers, Economy, Macro Economics, Politics, Weekly Financial News | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Consumer Debt At Record Lows

Financial FAQs The Federal Reserve just released the Q2 2013 Household Debt Service and Financial Obligations Ratios. The overall Debt Service Ratio decreased in Q2 2013, and is just above the record low set in Q4 2012 thanks to very … Continue reading

Posted in Consumers, Economy, Housing, housing market, Politics, Weekly Financial News | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

It’s Not About Obamacare!

Financial FAQs We know the federal government’s shutdown isn’t really about Obamacare. We know this because Tea Party Republicans have been trying to shut down government since the 2010 election, as MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow and others have pointed out. The … Continue reading

Posted in Consumers, Economy, Keynesian economics, Macro Economics, Politics, Weekly Financial News | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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

Posted in Consumers, Economy, Housing, housing market, Politics, Weekly Financial News | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

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

Posted in Consumers, Economy, Keynesian economics, Macro Economics, Politics, Weekly Financial News | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Managing Fed’s Expectations—Why Austerity Now?

Popular Economics Weekly It seems that Ben Bernanke’s Federal Reserve has lost its nerve. Last week’s FOMC meeting confirmed that its Open Market Committee has decided to end the monthly QE3 security purchases sooner rather than later. We already see … Continue reading

Posted in Consumers, Economy, Keynesian economics, Macro Economics, Weekly Financial News | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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

Posted in Consumers, Economy, Housing, housing market, Politics, Weekly Financial News | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Greater Recession, if Fed QE Ends Too Soon

Financial FAQs The stock and bond markets are sinking because of Fed Chairman Bernanke’s seemingly offhand remark that the Fed could slow down its QE purchases of securities as early as its June FOMC meeting. Now Organization for Economic Development … Continue reading

Posted in Consumers, Economy, Macro Economics, Politics, Weekly Financial News | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ben Bernanke and the Fragile Recovery

Financial FAQs We know how fragile is the U.S. economic recovery just from the past 48 hours, because both U.S. and Japanese stock prices plummeted, and interest rates jumped on a seemingly offhand remark made by Fed Chairman Bernanke in … Continue reading

Posted in Consumers, Economy, Macro Economics, Politics, Weekly Financial News | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Payrolls Rising with Lower Labor Productivity

Popular Economics Weekly Suddenly it looks like the U.S. economy isn’t stalling. Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 165,000 in April, and the unemployment rate fell slightly to 7.5 percent from 7.6 percent in March, reported the U.S. Bureau of … Continue reading

Posted in Consumers, Economy, Macro Economics, Weekly Financial News | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment