The Economist (November 19)
“In America’s foundation myths, the humble mortgage rarely features.” Though uncelebrated, housing loans have driven “the American dream, which centres on home ownership, ever since the federal government began subsidising property loans a century ago,” but their power is waning. “America’s huge mortgage market is slowly dying” and “Donald Trump’s remedies threaten to inflame a housing crisis.”
Tags: American dream, Dying, Foundation myths, Government, Home ownership, Housing crisis, Humble, Loans, Market, Mortgage, Property, Remedies, Trump, U.S., Uncelebrated
Wall Street Journal (September 1)
“America is becoming a nation of economic pessimists.” A recent Wall Street Journal-NORC poll found that “the share of people who say they have a good chance of improving their standard of living fell to 25%, a record low in surveys dating to 1987.” Over three-quarters of respondents lacked “confidence that life for the next generation will be better than their own.” Over two-thirds “believe the American dream—that if you work hard, you will get ahead—no longer holds true or never did, the highest level in nearly 15 years of surveys.”
Tags: 1987, American dream, Confidence, Economic pessimists, Next-generation, NORC, Poll, Record low, Respondents, Standard of living, U.S.
Los Angeles Times (September 27)
The American dream —“if you work hard you’ll get ahead” — has inspired individuals around the globe, and in the U.S. “the dream is the glue that keeps us all together.” But the dream is fading. Only half of Americans responded to an ABC News poll by saying they still believe the dream holds true, while 43% said that it had once been true and 4% said it had always been a fiction. The fading of the dream may prove the biggest threat America faces.
Tags: American dream, U.S.
