CNBC’s Diana Olick reports today from the exuberant Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) conference in New York City. Apparently the sector is on a tear, despite the double dip in housing, thanks to limited office space and the shift from home-ownership to multi-family rentals.
Economy
As the Economy Sputters, D.C. Loses Its Will to Act
The grim news last week was not new: The American economy is stuck in a rut, with the manufacturing sector sputtering, housing prices falling and job growth too small to keep up with the growing population. We have been reading …
Jitters
While the President has been playing the mug’s game proposed by the Republicans–cutting government spending in a time of economic uncertainty–the actual economy has been burping and stuttering, as David Leonhardt points out today. Here’s an inconvenient thought: Job growth in the private sector has been steady, if not spectacular…Is …
Will Greek Debt Hurt Obama Again?
Obama had a great run of news last week, between the death of Osama Bin Laden and an uptick in economic and employment indicators. But administration officials have a wary eye on Greece, where riots and a general strike are fueling market fears of another debt crisis like the one this time last year that the White House blames in part …
The Economy Gives Bernanke (and Obama) A Good Week–So Far
A little over a week ago, Ben Bernanke gave his first press conference and stuck to his guns over inflation fears, saying he believed high prices for oil and food were “transitory.”
Inflation hawks howled that Bernanke was ignoring the pressures from the commodity markets, where prices have soared. Bernanke should raise interest rates …
A Good Piece–and a Quick Thought–on Income Inequality
Veteran journalist Timothy Noah is the winner of this year’s Sidney Hillman Prize for magazine journalism, recognizing his characteristically thoughtful and well-written series digging into the causes of rising income inequality in the United States. If you haven’t read it, Slate makes it easy to find today.
Geithner: Bad News is Good News
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner appeared this morning on several shows to spin yesterday’s market-rattling S&P downgrade of the U.S. economic outlook. The causes of the downgrade–the soaring deficit, groaning national debt, and political disagreement over how to tackle both–did not dampen his take on the situation. On the contrary, the …
How Spooked Are Markets by the Debt Debate?
Rana Foroohar reports some unsettling news:
Is this the first domino in the next global financial crisis? It’s possible. Today the S & P revised its long-term credit rating outlook for the U.S. from “stable” to “negative.” The immediate result has been a flight from risky assets and anything linked to optimistic views on global
…
Is This Really All About Abortion?
This morning Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called the networks together and gave them an update on the negotiations (as I type this Reid is starting another press conference in the Senate). He said the issues have narrowed to one: abortion. Reid said House Speaker John Boehner is pushing a rider that would make Title X into block …
Boehner’s Choice
John Boehner has a decision to make. And in some ways it’s akin to choosing between his children. By midnight tonight the government will shut down unless an agreement can be reached between the Speaker and President Obama. Whatever Boehner decides will have long-reaching implications for his Speakership.
Ideally, Boehner would have …
Pick Your Own Ending: Shutdown Version
President Obama and Speaker Boehner talked this morning by phone – always a good sign that the lines of communications remain open. Though, the fact that the discussion lasted all of three minutes is a tad troubling. As the government lurches towards a possible shutdown, I thought it would be useful to outline the choices facing the …
How We Got Here
Representative Paul Ryan’s budget proposal is, without question, an act of political courage. It contains more than a few provisions that are long overdue–like cuts in farm subsidies and the consolidation of job-training programs (many of which are outdated and useless). I would even be willing to consider a Medicare overhaul that …
The Limits of Talking Through a Tepid Recovery
The very capable Ben Smith wrote a somewhat strange story last week. It’s conventional wisdom that economic conditions are a very important factor in a President’s reelection, especially now as we crawl out of a very deep economic hole. The premise of Smith’s piece is that Team Obama is mulling over when and how to handle the recovery in …