Among the lesser-reported impacts of the Great Recession, during which time millions of Americans lost their homes to foreclosure, is the continuing surge in rental housing demand. Demand has inflated rental rates in already costly markets throughout the country. But rental price inflation is not just a problem hitting high cost of living regions in …
Continue reading The Rent Bubble: Coming to a Neighborhood Near You
For all the talk of Wall Street reform and consumer protections the problem of predatory lending has not been eliminated. Subprime lending continues in the auto financing industry and elsewhere, and unlike conservatives' criticism of the housing market there are no federal subsidies to finger. Policymakers have, indeed, caused the problem but for reasons other …
Continue reading The Bubble Economy and the Rationality of Irrationality: Recapitalizing Virtue
If the headline-grabbing Occupy Wall Street movement proves anything, it is that Americans are gravely concerned about the state of our union. Just as the Tea Party was regarded with suspicion in their initial rallies to reduce government bloat, throngs of leaderless Occupy Wall Street protesters have been derided for their all-over-the-map set of gripes: …
Continue reading Why the Occupy Wall Street & Tea Party Objectives Dovetail — or Should