News
FOX News | 18.8 percent of US mortgage holders owe more than their homes are worth, research finds
Nearly 10 million Americans remain financially trapped by homes worth less than their mortgage debts — an enduring drag on the U.S. economy almost seven years after the housing bust triggered the Great Recession.
CNN Money | The 1% is spending: Luxury stocks soar
The notion that the free spending rich are back in full force has gotten investors giddy. Shares of Nordstrom have popped more than 8% since the company released better-than-expected results last week.
Bloomberg | Japan Trade Deficit Shrinks as Tax Increase Crimps Imports
Japan’s trade deficit shrank in April as imports rose the least in 16 months after the first sales-tax increase in 17 years crimped consumer spending.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Washington Times | The academic recession: Big bucks, little knowledge
College commencement season used to be the time for young men and women to step confidently into the world on their own. A new survey by the employment website AfterCollege finds that 83 percent of this season’s new graduates have no jobs lined up, despite their expensive diplomas in hand.
Forbes | Middle Class Earnings Are Stagnant! (Because Retirees Have No Earnings)
The latest National Review features my full critique of current It-Book Capital in the Twenty-First Century, by Celebrity Economist Thomas Piketty. The review combines the discussion from my two earlier columns of his income concentration estimates with an assessment of his argument that rising inequality is a threat to social stability. I view the book as a landmark work of data collection and presentation, but one marred by its sketchy theorizing about the fate of capitalism.
Fortune | China, Russia reach major natural gas deal
Agreement reached after a decade of negotiations; deal will supply quarter of what China consumes in a year.
NBER | The Common Factor in Idiosyncratic Volatility: Quantitative Asset Pricing Implications
We show that firms’ idiosyncratic volatility obeys a strong factor structure and that shocks to the common factor in idiosyncratic volatility (CIV) are priced.
Blogs
Market Watch | Fannie Mae cuts sales outlook for new and existing homes
Federally controlled mortgage-finance giant Fannie Mae cuts its outlook for home sales this year, as well as in 2015, after markets for existing and new homes posted a weak first quarter.
WSJ | Housing Makeover Downsizes GDP Growth Outlook
The housing bust and weak recovery have created a medium-run move away from single-family home ownership and toward rental apartments. The shift means home construction will add less oomph to gross domestic product growth. But the trend to smaller dwellings also lessens housing’s spillover impact on consumer spending.
