The true line on U.S. lumber tariffs
Canadian lumber trade with the U.S. has been contentious for decades. Canada’s subsidies distort the lumber market shuttering U.S. mills, and causing a cascade of unfavorable events for the U.S.
Trade agreements
The Customs Tariff Act...
Run like an apartment developer
Tariffs and trade-offs
Critics warn that tariffs will lead to inflation. However, a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysis found that tariffs would also slash deficits by as much as $2.9 trillion over the next decade—with...
Inflation is the most destructive disease known to modern societies —Milton Friedman
Here’s how.
1 Shoe leather
The resources and energy people use to convert deteriorating currency into stable assets are costly. Economists call this shoe leather costs, alluding to how people destroy their shoes in the metaphorical...
Paying the fox to watch the chickens: The war on private housing
Despite the rise in homelessness, the federal government continues to raise the barrier to creating shelter for those without permanent housing. Infusing bad actors with HUD money is another layer.
In September the Biden admin....
Bad loans will cost taxpayers $65.2B in 2025
GAAP stands for “generally accepted accounting principles,” and are a set of rules/standards for preparing and reporting financial statements in the U.S. (unless you’re a federal agency).
RULES = U.S. private businesses + Federal agencies
Federal agencies set...
America’s spending problem
This will slim you down six ways from Sunday.
The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples’ money. —Margaret Thatcher
$2.4 billion—federal losses under specially-created accounting rules by the federal government
Creating...
INFOGRAPHIC: A luxury vibe
High-income millennials and Gen Zers are choosing Class A apartments over home ownership. Is it a lifestyle choice or the economy?
National Class A rents average $660 to $2,000 below the average monthly mortgage
Hospitality-focused apartments
Class...
INFOGRAPHIC: Small businesses keep labor market flying
Job openings at small businesses fire on all cylinders—despite Federal interest rate increases
(up) 50 percent more job openings in April were by small/midsized employers compared to 2019
(down) 14 percent fewer job openings by larger...
INFOGRAPHIC: Have CRE foreclosures hit bottom? Probably not.
Office demand is not returning. Owners working with lenders on short sales aren’t counted as foreclosures muffling the numbers. The volume of commercial property sales involving lender participation soared 83 percent in the first...
INFOGRAPHIC: Battle of will
Launching from the bestselling 2008 book, Nudge, by Thayer and Sunstein, nudging became a cultural phenomenon. The concept assumes that behavior is better persuaded than regulated. Sounds good, but does it work?
400+ behavioral insight...
INFOGRAPHIC: Interest rates slow apartment development
Rising interest rates, tighter lending and flattening rents in parts of the country have left property companies from California to Florida waiting for financing that may not come soon.
+500 days (up 45% from 2019)...
INFOGRAPHIC: Appliance payoff models explode
^58 percent increase in requested quotes to thousands of appliance repair businesses y/y (2022-2023)
^43 percent increase in appliance spend in 2023 compared to 2013—rising from $390 to $558 over the decade
Why? 1987. Home appliances...
INFOGRAPHIC: Disparate impact of high interest rates
Disparate impact of high interest rates has adversely impacted millions of low- and middle-income families—and housing providers. More often high interest rates depress stock and housing prices, and other asset values— impacting all income...
INFOGRAPHIC: Demoralization in 1 easy step
spend like there’s no tomorrow
Runaway federal debt destabilizes resident incomes, interferes with housing production and depresses apartment rents (PRO IN THE KNOW)
$35 trillion debtor
Unrepentant, compulsive, unsustainable, untethered
U.S. interest payment scenarios
U.S. payments and rate projections...
INFOGRAPHIC: Going nuclear
1980
90 percent of uranium used in the U.S. was produced domestically
2021
5 percent of uranium used in the U.S. was produced domestically
55 nuclear power plants generated 20 percent of U.S. electricity
251 nuclear power plants generated...
