An increasing number of cities are turning to the power of eminent domain to reduce the number of residential home foreclosures. Cities in New Jersey, New York, Minnesota and California are exploring the possibility of “friendly condemnations” in which the city buys the mortgage of an underwater homeowner. If the investor refuses to sell, the...Read More
Consumer bankruptcy filings are expected to remain high in certain parts of the country. Although the filing rate is expected to decline overall in 2014, consumers in areas dominated by high unemployment and a poor housing market are expected to keep filing Chapter 13 Bankruptcy in large numbers. Meanwhile, more and more Chapter 7 bankruptcies...Read More
President Harry Truman once wished for a one-armed economist. The reason? Seemingly all his economic advisors consistently said “on the one hand X, but on the other hand Y.” Wage stagnation is a current case-in-point. It has become almost axiomatic to say that the middle-class is shrinking. One economist begs to differ, claiming that this...Read More
