The Bowtie Economist's Daily Dose of 70-Word Wisdom

Despite many households locking in low mortgage rates, household interest expenses are skyrocketing. In 00Q4, the peak of the dotcom boom, interest expenses/GDP hit an all-time high of 2.2%. In 07Q2, shortly before the onset of the Housing Bust, interest…

The cost to a mortgage lender to complete a residential loan in 23Q4 was $12,485, the second highest level in the history of the series, and up from $11,441 in 23Q3. Unfortunately, revenue per loan barely rose. As a result,…

While the long-term impact of NAR’s agreement to end litigation brought on behalf of sellers, related to broker commissions, may take a while to become apparent, the immediate results were clear. On Friday, the day the agreement was announced, the…

The Friday File: A study of 584,734 dogs has found small, long-nosed, female dogs have the longest average lifespan at 13.3 years. The median canine lifespan is 12.5 years. Dogs with flat faces live an average of 11.2 years. Interestingly,…

As of 3/1/24, the IRS issued 36.2 million refunds versus 42 million refunds Y-o-Y. However, tax filing season began on 1/23/23 compared to 1/29/24. That said, so far, the IRS has processed 53.2 million returns vs. 54.3 million last year.…

The new White House pilot program designed to save homeowners money by waiving the requirement for title insurance on some refinancings by some lenders is, while well intended, ill advised. It’s because at the margin this increases housing demand, which…

Since 1945, when equities retreat 5%-9.9%, on average it takes 1.5 months for markets to recover and recoup all losses. When markets experience a correction, a decline of 10%-19.9%, it takes on average 4 months to recover, and when they…

February net job creation was a strong 275,000. However, January’s growth was dramatically revised down to 229,000 from 353,000, heaping more doubt on the quality of the monthly net employment numbers. Therefore, focus on the unemployment rate, which at 3.9%…

The Friday File: The wealthiest nation is Luxembourg with per capital GDP of $135,605, followed by Ireland at $112,248 and Switzerland at $102,865. No other nations exceeded $100,000. Norway was next at $99,266. Singapore was 5th at $87,884 then, Qatar…

In 1/23, when the labor market was sizzling, Y-o-Y wage growth for those employed during the previous year peaked at 6.4%. Among those who changed jobs it was 7.7%, and among those who didn’t change jobs it was 5.7%. By…