Investment in residential property remains a smaller share of the overall economy than at any time since World War II Sales of new single-family homes in March plummeted 14.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 384,000, hitting the lowest level since July 2013, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Wednesday.The March drop in new homeContinue reading “Housing not leading the economy”
Category Archives: Americans’ Confidence in the Economy
The decline of the American middle class continues
The American middle class is still dying. While the wealthiest Americans are outpacing many of their global peers, a New York Times analysis shows that across the lower- and middle-income tiers, citizens of other advanced countries have received considerably larger raises over the last three decades. After-tax middle-class incomes in Canada — substantially behind inContinue reading “The decline of the American middle class continues”
Most Americans correctly believe single parent families cause poverty
The two-parent family has declined rapidly in recent decades. In 1960, more than 76% of African-Americans and nearly 97% of whites were born to married couples. Today the percentage is 30% for blacks and 70% for whites. The out-of-wedlock birthrate for Hispanics surpassed 50% in 2006. This trend, coupled with high divorce rates, means thatContinue reading “Most Americans correctly believe single parent families cause poverty”
Another Story on Single Parenthood Causing Poverty
The last few weeks have brought an unusual convergence of voices from both the center and the left about a topic that is typically part of conservative rhetorical territory: poverty and single-parent families. Just as some conservatives have started talking seriously about rising inequality and stagnant incomes, some liberals have finally begun to admit that our stubbornly high ratesContinue reading “Another Story on Single Parenthood Causing Poverty”
2012 in review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog. Here’s an excerpt: 19,000 people fit into the new Barclays Center to see Jay-Z perform. This blog was viewed about 92,000 times in 2012. If it were a concert at the Barclays Center, it would take about 5 sold-out performances for thatContinue reading “2012 in review”
Social inequality and economic growth
Modern politics needs to come up with ways of mitigating inequality without hurting economic growth. The twin forces of globalisation and technical innovation have actually narrowed inequality globally, as poorer countries catch up with richer ones. But within many countries income gaps have widened. More than two-thirds of the world’s people live in countries whereContinue reading “Social inequality and economic growth”