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Hurricane Sandy

“Democratic” Hurricanes, “Republican” Blizzards

Are Natural Disasters Partisan? Every time the wire services publish a photo of President Obama comforting a victim of Hurricane Sandy, it’s hard to imagine jaded citizens (and potential voters) not being touched, at least a little bit (and no, I’m not attaching political motives to Obama’s humanitarian actions). In fact, a broader principle seems to be...
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Hurricane Sandy & Interest Rates

Pop quiz:  the consensus among mortgage lenders is that Hurricane Sandy will have the following effect on mortgage rates: A. Up. B. Down. C. No change. Answer:  C. That opinion seems to be based on two factors: 1) Hurricane Katrina’s negligible effect on interest rates in 2005; 2) the Fed’s commitment to keep rates low...
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Watching “Sandy” — From 1,000 Miles Away

Put the Twin Cities in the 2/3 of the country NOT affected by Sandy. Directly, that is. With all air travel to the East Coast cancelled, financial markets closed, and all manner of media focused on the storm, its centripetal pull easily reaches this far (and beyond). Thanks to the Internet and social media, those...
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