This Weekend’s Hot Story While it’s still free, check out this article in The New York Times: ‘In Prison for Taking a Liar Loan.’ It recounts the utterly fantastic tale of a how a small-time Countrywide borrower came to serve a 21 month sentence for mortgage fraud, while the bank’s senior executives literally walked away with...Read More
Fewer Realtors = Less Lobbying Clout Want to know another reason why the mortgage interest deduction for homeowners is in jeopardy as never before? It’s not just because the budget deficit is ballooning, prompting policymakers to look for novel ways to raise revenue (although that’s certainly true). And it’s not because the philosophical case for the deduction —...Read More
Going . . . Up The biggest price increase I’m aware of isn’t gas (up 40% in six months), groceries (up 20% in the same span), or health care (who knows??). It’s the price of online content (see, “Online Content: No More Free Ride(r)?”). So, effective March 30, David Rosenberg’s “Breakfast with Dave” will be...Read More
Scooping The Wall Street Journal on Groupon Retailers have learned the hard way that coupon sites like Groupon Inc. don’t always deliver such a sweet deal. Many businesses felt burned after their early experiences with Groupon. Now the small retailers that form the base of its business have become savvier about working with Groupon and...Read More
Drawbridges . . . Up In just a few weeks, some of my favorite “free” content . . . won’t be. That includes mainstream publications like The New York Times, but also specialty online newsletters like “Breakfast with Dave,” authored by Gluskin Sheff chief economist David Rosenberg. Even The New Yorker, which is busily promoting its iPad app, quietly omits the fact...Read More
4 Possible Solutions to Owners-Players Dispute (Very) far removed from the NFL owners vs. players tussle essentially over revenue-sharing, at first blush it seems like there are only three possible outcomes: 1. The owners get a larger slice of the pie; 2. The players do; or 3. The owners and players conspire to increase the overall...Read More
