Jan 12 2009

Homeownership: Is a High Homeownership Rate Good Policy? No. Examining 3 Cycles of Homeownership Data over 100 years and Implications for the Economy.

The current housing crisis has left us with an opportunity to examine the driving issue behind a high homeownership rate.  Is it really worth it to push for an economic policy that champions a high homeownership rate?  The problem with blanket statements is they usually play into herd mentality and feed into group think.  One of the statements we have lived with for the past decade is “everyone should own their own home.”  Such statements mask a three decade long housing bubble and also don’t research the basis for economic sustainability.

Read More

Jan 10 2009

Fiscal Stimulus: Does Government Investment help the Economy. Examining the Impact of Monetary and Fiscal Stimulus.

The economic difficulties facing our country have for the first time, made the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury seem powerless in regards to starting the economic engine once again.  For nearly 100 years, the school of thought was that monetary policy was the driving force for everything.  If inflation was picking up, all you needed to do was raise rates and it would slow the economy down.  If the economy started slowing down dramatically like we are currently facing, all you needed to do was lower rates to add liquidity into the system.

Read More

Jan 9 2009

Employment Situation: 2.5 million jobs lost in 2008. 524,000 Jobs Lost in December, Unemployment Surges to 7.2%. Broader Measure of unemployment at 13.5%.

The unemployment situation continues to weaken.  The BLS reported 524,000 lost jobs in December and also revised the November numbers up to 584,000.  As we have been saying for some time, this now makes 2008 the year of worst job losses since World War II.

Read More

TAGS:
Jan 8 2009

Economic and Investing Forecast for 2009: 10 Charts Showing no Economic Rebound in 2009.

Today the ADP National Employment Report stated that private sector jobs fell by a much larger than expected 693,000 in December.  This report stunned on the downside and is a prelude to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics report which comes out on Friday.  The market also suffered its worst one day since early December.  We’ve been on a relatively stable rally from the November 15 bottom yet 2009 will once again show us that there is much more market volatility floating in the economy.  Much of the volatility will come from the stimulus plan and also, the liquidity floating in the system.

Read More

Page 249 of 278« First...102030...247248249250251...260270...Last »




Categories

Archives