News
Fox Business | Existing Homes Sales Fall 1.8% in August
Fewer Americans bought homes in August, as investors retreated from real estate and first-time buyers remained scarce.
CNN Money | Gen Xers are poorer than their parents
The typical Gen Xer has only $29,100 in wealth, compared to the $65,200 that their parents had socked away at the same age, according to a new report from the Pew Economic Mobility Project. Wealth includes savings, retirement funds, homes and other investments.
CNN Money | For rich people, mortgages are getting cheaper and easier
Not only are big-pocketed borrowers paying lower average rates on the high dollar value loans known as jumbo mortgages, but lenders are now requiring even smaller down payments -- and, in some cases, they are waiving the mortgage insurance, too.
Bloomberg | Apple Sells Record 10 Million IPhones in Debut Weekend
Apple Inc. (AAPL) sold a record of more than 10 million iPhones the first weekend two new versions hit stores, helping Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook in a push to narrow Samsung Electronics Co.’s lead in bigger-screen smartphones.
Market Watch | National activity index turns negative in August, Chicago Fed says
U.S. economic activity was below-trend in August, according to data released Monday.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Wall Street Journal | The West's Bruised Confidence in Capitalism
Across the six Septembers since the global financial meltdown, the corporate world has faced intense questions about major challenges, not least about how to sustain growth during an imperfect recovery.
The Washington Times | The War on Poverty: 50 years of failure
This year marks the 50th anniversary of President Lyndon Johnson's launch of the War on Poverty.
Washington Post | The next (nasty) economic surprise?
We live in the shadow of “secular stagnation,” to use a phrase now fashionable among economists.
Blogs
Wall Street Journal | Rate of Americans Starting Own Households ‘Disturbingly Slow’
New data show that household formation slowed considerably last year, a potentially ominous sign for the housing market.
Café Hayek | More on Competition and Monopoly
The fact that almost no actual competition takes place in perfectly competitive markets doesn’t stop people, most of whom are unfamiliar with the theory, from supposing that what economists (the experts!) call “perfect competition”
Wall Street Journal | Cash Home Sales, While High, Are Falling
The share of homes being purchased without a mortgage remains high, historically speaking, but it is beginning to edge down.
Wall Street Journal | Student Debt Could Reduce Home Sales 8% This Year, Report Says
Higher levels of student debt will reduce U.S. home sales by around 8% this year, according to a report released Friday by John Burns Real Estate Consulting, an advisory firm.
