The Financial Vulnerability of Americans

Excessive household debt was crucial in explaining the severity of the Great Recession. So where are we now? Have households strengthened their financial position since 2009? Are household balance sheets strong enough to prevent another massive pull back in spending if there are significant job losses? To answer to these questions, we look at evidence from the 2012 …

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Housing Market Slowdown?

We are crunching some numbers trying to figure out what is going on with the house prices. In the meantime, here are some links which suggest that perhaps the sharp rebound in house prices is cooling. Zillow forecasting Case-Shiller February report sees slowdown. From the housing master himself at calculatedriskblog. Erin Carlyle at Forbes explains the weirdness of …

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The Federal Reserve and Wealth Inequality

The Federal Reserve has a well-defined dual-mandate: stabilize prices and maximize employment. However, in trying to achieve these objectives, the Fed can inadvertently favor some segments of the population more than others. This was indeed the case from the perspective of households’ net worth position during the Great Recession. We have already highlighted the highly unequal distribution …

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