On Our Radar

The U.S. Federal Reserve’s interest-rate decisions have big repercussions for the country and the world. Yet the short-term interest rate it targets- known as the federal funds rate- no longer plays a meaningful role in the economy, and requires occasional fiddling to keep it in line. 

A high school dropout, she earned her GED at 19 while pregnant with twins, who were later born prematurely. Carless, she took the bus with her children to follow-up medical appointments for her babies, who were less than 2 pounds at birth. Inspired, she decided to become a nurse and later, a union representative and community activist.

Visa has agreed to acquire Swedish startup Tink, which allows banks and startups to access consumer financial data and handles payments outside of traditional card networks like Visa’s, in a $2.1 billion deal (€1.8 billion). 

With one week to go before the nationwide ban on evictions expires, the White House is acknowledging that the emergency pandemic protection will have to end at some point. The trick is devising the right sort of “off-ramp” to make the transition without massive social upheaval.

The digital lives of Americans with lower and higher incomes remain markedly different, according to a Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults conducted Jan. 25-Feb. 8, 2021.

The racial wealth divide between white and Black families in the U.S. is more of a chasm than a gap.

A sweeping new study of racial segregation across the U.S. shows that the Washington region, like much of the country, has become more segregated since 1990.

One evening in December, after a long day working from home, Jennifer Drouin, 30, headed out to buy groceries in central Amsterdam. Once inside, she noticed new price tags. The label by the zucchini said they cost a little more than normal: 6¢ extra per kilo for their carbon footprint, 5¢ for the toll the farming takes on the land, and 4¢ to fairly pay workers. “There are all these extra costs to our daily life that normally no one would pay for, or even be aware of,” she says.

Gentrification has become a functionally useless term.

The risk is cognitive decline, which can rob them of their judgment, often without much warning. One big mistake—or a series of smaller ones—can go unnoticed by loved ones, and potentially ravage a lifetime of hard-earned savings.

The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) today announced the availability of data on 2020 mortgage lending transactions at 4,475 U.S. financial institutions reported under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). Covered institutions include banks, savings associations, credit unions, and mortgage companies.

The Supreme Court dismissed a challenge to the Affordable Care Act on Thursday in a decision that will leave the law intact and save health care coverage for millions of Americans. The justices turned away a challenge from Republican-led states and the former Trump administration, which urged the justices to block the entire law.

It has been a long and frustrating process for venue owners, particularly as similar SBA-run programs like the Restaurant Revitalization Fund have gone off smoothly.

During COVID, more and more people started having trouble making ends meet. And they felt trapped: They could apply for rental assistance from the federal government, but much of that money still hasn’t gone out the door.

Construction of new housing in the past 20 years fell 5.5 million units short of long-term historical levels, according to a new National Association of Realtors report, which is calling for a “once-in-a-generation” policy response.