The worst of the global economic crisis is on our doorstep. A critical number of our socioeconomic and geopolitical trend forecasts that are shaping the future are there for all who subscribe to The Trends Journal to see.
Tag: U.S. economy
TOP TREND, OFFICE BUILDING BUST: PENSION FUND DUMPS OFFICE
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPIB) was one of the earliest pension funds to put money into commercial real estate, inspiring others around the world to do the same.
SPOTLIGHT: BIGS GET BIGGER
Walmart will pay $11.50 a share in cash, or about $2.3 billion, to buy Vizio, a California company that makes television sets.
SPOTLIGHT: BANKS GO BUST
A dramatic increase in late payments on commercial real estate (CRE) loans is sharply shrinking cash reserves that major U.S. banks have set aside to cover such losses.
AMERICA’S WEALTHY HIDE $150 BILLION A YEAR FROM TAXES, IRS CHIEF SAYS
U.S. millionaires and billionaires evade $150 billion a year of their fair share of taxes, Danny Werfel, commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, said last week in a CNBC interview.
23 PERCENT OF NEW YORKERS ARE NOW POOR, STUDY SAYS
Poverty in New York City had been easing down for several years but spiked back up in 2022 by about 500,000 people, leaving 23 percent of city residents unable to afford essentials such as rent and food, according to a study from Columbia University.
HOME SALES BOUNCE BACK IN JANUARY
U.S. home sales grew by 3.1 percent in January from December, the largest monthly jump since August 2023, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported. However, sales of existing homes, which make up about 70 percent of the market, were still down 1.7 percent year on year.
CREDIT CARD COMPANIES KEEP RIPPING OFF CARD HOLDERS WITH HIGH INTEREST RATES
U.S. credit card companies have raised their interest rates an average of 4.3 percentage points over the last 10 years, which is allowing them to collect an additional $25 billion a year from cardholders, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has calculated.
ECONOMIC UPDATE – MARKET OVERVIEW
While The Street is still on an equity market high, thanks mostly to so-called “Magnificent Seven” tech stocks that spiked, and continue to spike, with the new AI juice they are gobbling up, it is a different world on Main Street.
GETTING HUNGRY: FOOD COSTS KEEP CLIMBING
In January, the cost of groceries in the U.S. was 1.2 percent higher than a year earlier and menu prices at restaurants jumped 1.2 percent, according to data from the U.S. Labor Department.