Clik here to view.
What is the FHA?
The Federal Housing Administration, or FHA, is essentially an insurance program that backs homebuyers. Many of borrowers go to the FHA because they can’t get a conventional loan. They might be first...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Shining a light on the shadow inventory
Things are looking up, up, up in housing. The S&P/Case–Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index says property values in the year ended in September rose by the most since July 2010; housing...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What did the Fed just do?
What did Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke do yesterday? He put speed limit signs up on the freeway. Our economy is like a car driving on that freeway, and the Federal Reserve is at the wheel....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Explainer: how to choose a financial planner
Here’s a question we get asked a lot on Marketplace Money: what’s the best way to choose a financial planner. There’s no easy answer to this – a lot depends on your net worth and your needs. But the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
So what is the debt ceiling …
The debt ceiling – or the debt limit, as the Treasury calls it – is, quite simply, the amount of money that the government is allowed to borrow. Every year, the Congress decides how much it’s going to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Everything you need to know about Germany’s gold.
Back in the days of the Soviets and worries about a Red Army invasion west of the Iron Curtain, Germany made a decision to hide the family jewels outside German borders. Well, the family gold, anyhow....
View ArticleClik here to view.
WaPo makes Brill’s Bitter Pill explainer easier to swallow
I’ve read Steven Brill’s excellent report on costs in the US healthcare system twice now. The first read through nearly gave me a heart attack. The second wasn’t quite so stunning, but it left me...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Cyprus “Special Assessment”
If you’ve every owned a condominium, an apartment in a co-op building, or a home in a homeowners association, you’ll be aware of the term “special assessment.” Such an innocuous phrase, but one that...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What’s a bank run?
Now that the Cypriot government has voted down the dastardly plan to secure the country’s membership of the Eurozone by taxing the savings of its citizens, the worry is that Cyprus will leave the Euro,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Don’t diss debt (just yet)
Debt has got a really bad reputation right now. It’s being blamed for tearing Europe apart, crippling the American economy, cheapening the US dollar and eroding its standing as the global reserve...
View Article
