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
Time (June 23)
“Life expectancy across the country plummeted by nearly two years from 2018 to 2020, the largest decline since 1943, when American troops were dying in World War II.” While life expectancy also dropped in many countries during the same period, “the average loss of life expectancy in the U.S. was nearly nine times greater than the average in 16 other developed nations, whose residents can now expect to live 4.7 years longer than Americans.”
Tags: Decline, Developed nations, Dying, Life expectancy, Plummeted, U.S., WWII
LA Times (September 11)
“America’s malls are dying. Owners are hoping virtual reality and fitness centers will save them.” As merchants increasingly withdraw in the face of e-tailers, Credit Suisse “recently predicted 20% to 25% of U.S. malls will shut down within five years…. To survive, malls need to set aside long-established models that rely on two or more anchor tenants to draw customers and, instead, develop a mixture of retail, entertainment and housing.”
Tags: Anchor tenants, Credit Suisse, Customers, Dying, e-tailers, Entertainment, Fitness, Housing, Malls, Retail, U.S., Virtual reality
