Once again, the federal home-buyer tax credit meant to spur demand in the housing market is coming to an end. To claim the credit—worth up to $8,000 for first-time buyers and $6,500 for folks who already own a home—you’ve got to be in contract by April 30 and close by the end of June. Much [...]
“The New Frugality,” declared the cover of Time magazine on April 27, 2009. Just kidding!
I’ve gone on and on about how not to create jobs. In the cover story of this week’s Time, I explain what will work. The piece begins: Later this year, a marketing manager will sit down for his first day of work at HomeAway, a company that helps people rent their vacation homes online. In [...]
There’s a piece by a veterinarian in the current issue of Newsweek that makes the case for structuring the human health-care system more like the one we have for animals. That doesn’t sound like a completely ridiculous idea to me.
From the LA Times: The Senate today passed by a 68-29 margin a $17.6-billion measure intended to spur hiring nationwide, sending the bill to the White House for the president’s expected signature… The bill would grant employers an exemption from their 6.2% Social Security payroll contribution for every new employee hired through the rest of the [...]
Two days ago I wrote a post about why I think price tags could save American health care. One of the great forces of the U.S. economy is the price-conscious consumer. Collectively we manage to drive down the cost of everything from bar soap to tax preparation. Such is the nature of a competitive marketplace [...]
A big part of the reason consumer goods are so cheap in the U.S. is because people always know what they’re paying. As a consequence, consumers can push prices lower by voting with their feet. If CVS tries to sell me a toothbrush for $4 when the one at Rite Aid goes for $3, I [...]
Over the weekend, Warren Buffett posted his annual letter to the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway. You can read it here (PDF). The 20-page letter is, as always, partly a recap of the Buffett philosophy: only buy businesses you understand, keep plenty of cash on hand, run companies for long-term return and not short-term stock-price gain. [...]
This morning the Commerce Department released revised figures for fourth quarter GDP. There was good news: economic output increased at a 5.9% seasonally adjusted annualized pace, up from an earlier measure of 5.7%, showing that the economy is buzzing along even faster than we thought. Stock futures promptly dropped. Wait. What?
Federal Reserve governor Elizabeth Duke is due to give a really nice piece of testimony tomorrow unpacking what’s going on with small-businesses lending. Judging by the advance text up on the Fed’s web site, it will be a joyously nuanced picture. Banks are hesitant to lend, yes, and are sometimes hamstrung by their own imprudent lending of [...]
