America’s latest bout of realty mania may finally be dying down, as home prices and particularly sales volumes decline after a rise of interest rates. With mortgage payments more costly, and expectations of equity appreciation diminishing, the fees charged by brokers may become a rub again. Five percent off the top, a typical full transactionContinue reading “Another Supply Factor in Home Sales: Who Can Broker the Deal?”
Author Archives: timwferguson
When Pine Barrens Were Cleared for Walmart
I’m reminded it’s been 25 years this summer since this article in the New York Times caught the inception of a “regional shopping center” on the Long Island Expressway approach to the Hamptons. The center, such as it is, finally is coming together, based on my drive-by tour a few months ago. A huge WalmartContinue reading “When Pine Barrens Were Cleared for Walmart”
Argentines Live Off of Mattress Money
Hyperinflation caused by venal government is a commonplace in backward nations, especially those terrorized by war or ruthless rulers. When the affliction approaches in established or “civilized” countries, it can be of special significance to those of us blessed with better experiences. This weekend’s New York Times story from Buenos Aires describes how ordinary businesspeopleContinue reading “Argentines Live Off of Mattress Money”
No Red Side in Congress When It Comes to China
In speaking to small audiences in Chinese Asia where I formerly made business trips, I’d sometimes note that whatever qualms they had about White House policy toward Beijing, they’d best consider where Congress would take things. This was true, for instance, during the early stages of President Trump’s trade war. A distant observer might haveContinue reading “No Red Side in Congress When It Comes to China”
Borrowers Aren’t Being Bounced from Their Homes
Among the many stopgap subsidies that governments instituted during the pandemic was a freeze on home-loan foreclosures. When the federal barrier was lifted last year (various state measures carried their own expirations) we read and heard much wailing about a wave of mortgage holders who would be cast out onto the streets. Well, the latestContinue reading “Borrowers Aren’t Being Bounced from Their Homes”
An Ode to the Op-ed Sweetener
Back in the 1980s, when the Wall Street Journal was still exclusively a print product, my little team in the op-ed department formalized the near-daily placement of a short, usually humorous or poignant, article at the bottom of the section. Because of the position on the layer cake, we called those pieces the “tertiary” andContinue reading “An Ode to the Op-ed Sweetener”
Green Living: Cows Are Coming Home
This correspondent at Unherd tries to separate the current Dutch farming protest over nitrogen restrictions from more sweeping global pushback against climate and other environmental strictures. Sure, there’s generally a more localized context to every “global” story. But it’s nonetheless true that what are being presented as planetary urgencies are beginning to impinge on largeContinue reading “Green Living: Cows Are Coming Home”
On the Trail of Hamptons Preservation
The year 2022 is triggering public anniversary memories on the East End of Long Island, some of which go back 50 years to significant developments that changed Suffolk County such as the abrupt completion of the Long Island Expressway and the birth of the resource-preservationist outfit known back then as the Group for America’s SouthContinue reading “On the Trail of Hamptons Preservation”
AC/DC as a Fetish
The pursuit of electricity as a climate relief strategy has become rather a fetish on the left, even in quarters where you’d expect more skepticism about any power source. Mainstream media are fully on board. There’s an all-out push in Washington and around the country for subsidizing battery-powered vehicles, even though 1) combustion engines areContinue reading “AC/DC as a Fetish”
Soon to be Overrun With the Old
When media spotlight “existential crises” they often are referring to some resource whose supply is in peril for future generations. Usually this has some environmental element, such as species depletion or food supply, or any other angle of climate change. But in First World societies there’s a demographic “timebomb” as the baby boomers and successiveContinue reading “Soon to be Overrun With the Old”
Tim W. Ferguson 