News
CNN Money | Dreary outlook for formerly hot housing markets
To sort out what you can expect in real estate this year, MONEY zeroed in on four markets: upscale neighborhoods, new investor favorites, booming growth cities, and once-busy areas that have quieted down. Whether your local real estate market is heating up or cooling off, here's what you need to know about buying, selling or renovating your home.
Bloomberg | To Export U.S. Oil or Not Boils Down to Industry Profit
When Big Oil began preparing last year to challenge the decades-old rules against exporting U.S. crude, the debate seemed fanciful. Then Russia took over Crimea and the idea of using American energy -- oil as well as natural gas -- to reshape global affairs became a Washington pet project.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Washington Times | Obama flunks economics lesson from Henry Ford
President Obama flew Wednesday to Ann Arbor, Mich., where the jobless rate is close to 8 percent, to boast about his economic policies.
Forbes | The War On Poverty Was Designed To Fail
The War on Poverty failed because it was designed to fail. The progressive welfare state that grew out of the War on Poverty cannot be reformed. It must be ripped out of the fabric of American life and replaced, at least at the federal level, by an “opportunity and credit state.” What that kind of system would look like will be outlined in a future “Unconventional Logic.”
AEI | Building better housing assistance
Housing assistance for low-income Americans is premised on a simple value that most Americans share: no citizen should go without a roof over his head. But policy has done a poor job of achieving that goal. As of January 2013, more than 610,000 Americans were homeless. Many more are paying very high percentages of their income toward rent or are doubling up with other households.
Heritage Foundation | Using the Index of Economic Freedom: A Practical Guide
In 2014, the Index of Economic Freedom, co-published by The Wall Street Journal and The Heritage Foundation, celebrates its 20th anniversary. For two decades, the Index, by cataloguing economic policy developments of the globe, has served as a beacon for people around the world who recognize enhanced economic liberty and individual opportunity as the surest path to greater prosperity.
Blogs
WSJ | Fannie, Freddie Overhaul Will Translate Into Higher Mortgage Rates
Mortgage rates could rise by as much as 1.5 percentage points for homeowners with weaker credit or smaller down payments under various legislative proposals to overhaul Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to a study prepared for an industry group.
