Tag: unemployment
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Does Housing Drive Income Inequality?
The widening gap between the wealthy and – well, everyone else in America has occupied news headlines since the housing collapse of a few years ago. As the famous one percent gets richer and the other 99 do not, a new theory suggests that income inequality is really about housing inequality. Income inequality isn’t new.…
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Millennial Entrepreneurs Change the Economic Game
Millennials get a lot of press lately – most of it bad. This generation of new and recent college grads keeps on making headlines for its staggering student loan debt, problems fitting into the working world, and lack of interest in traditional “adult” goals. But many Millennials are turning those very negatives into positives, with…
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Not a Student? Student Loan Debt Still Hits Home
You’re not a college student. You don’t have a child in college. But the escalating crisis of student loan debt still affects you, in ways large and small. In the spring of 2014 the total student debt load in the US had reached $1.1 trillion – and that burden of debt is stifling entrepreneurship, threatening…
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Gen Y: Changing the Economic Game
Move over, baby boomers. There’s a batch of new kids in town, and their numbers have knocked you out of first place as the biggest age cohort in the country. We’re talking about the millennials, or Generation Y, whose buying patterns and lifestyle choices are changing the face of the economy in ways large and…
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Over-Regulation Strangles Business Innovation
It’s only hummus – that chickpea and tahini spread gaining popularity in grocery stores around the country. But a new battle over what exactly constitutes real hummus offers a sobering lesson about the way small businesses and entrepreneurs can be crushed by regulations pushed by their larger competitors. The story is simple. Sabra, makers of…
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What’s the Right Retirement Age Anyway?
For decades, 65 has been that magic age for “retirement” – leaving a longtime job and riding off into the golden years with visions of vacations, grandkids and hobbies dancing through graying heads. But a variety of social, economic and personal factors are turning the notion of a true retirement age on its head. And…
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Can Bad Credit Crush Job Applicants?
You’ve got the qualifications. You’re dressed for the interview and your resume is state of the art. But in spite of all this, the state of your credit could derail your hopes for that dream job. Increasingly, employers are turning to credit checks to make employment decisions. But is it legal to use credit reporting…
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Boreas and Friends Take a Toll on the Economy
Boreas, Cleon, Electra . . . the newly named winter storms marched across the northeastern US earlier this winter in quick succession, leaving behind frigid air, paralyzed cities, and economic consequences that proved costly for some, lucrative for others. And the result is a mixed picture for employment, construction and the big indicator of economic…
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A Unanimous Decision Keeps the Fed’s Taper Going
Months after it was first announced, the Federal Reserve’s plan to taper down its massive stimulus plan is gathering steam. After scaling back its $85 billion monthly buyup of mortgage baked securities and bonds by $10 billion, the Fed’s Open Market Committee has now voted to lop off another $10 billion. That brings the monthly…
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US Markets Still Lure Foreign Investment
Is foreign money propping up the US economic recovery? International investing in key economic sectors continues to grow every year – and that raises concerns that foreign investment could crush its US competitors and compromise growth in the long term. That’s a paradox that experts are watching in the newly rebounding housing market, where foreign…