Money, Wealth & Power—A Daily Look at the Financial World
Rising auto insurance costs have become a significant burden for American drivers, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting that the motor vehicle insurance component of the Consumer Price Index surged between December 2024 and December 2025. Consumer Reports has released a new analysis identifying the ten cheapest new cars to insure, incorporating factors like…
Millions of homeowners are suddenly much closer to seeing their property tax bills plunge, or in some cases nearly disappear, thanks to aggressive new efforts in Florida and North Dakota. A proposed Florida constitutional amendment known as HJR 201 would exempt homestead property from almost all local property taxes, while a signed package in North…
Drivers are shuffling billions of premium dollars as they abandon frustrating auto insurers and flock to competitors that feel fairer and easier to work with. I look at five carriers widely reported as losing customers and pair each with a company that those drivers are likely switching to, based on satisfaction data, switching surveys, and…
The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate in Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey for the week ending February 7, 2026, is hovering near 6.8 percent, keeping home loans firmly in expensive territory. At the same time, the Bureau of Labor Statistics January jobs report showed nonfarm payrolls rising by 353,000 and the unemployment rate holding…
Renters are often described as vulnerable, squeezed by rising housing costs and the whims of landlords. Yet the same dynamics that expose renters to risk also reveal how central they are to the housing economy’s basic math. When renters recognize that dependence and organize around it, they can turn what looks like weakness into bargaining…
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani swept into office promising to tackle the housing crisis head on, with a signature vow to expand rental assistance for struggling tenants. Now, as budget pressure mounts, he is quietly edging away from that pledge, signaling a far more cautious approach to the CityFHEPS voucher program than his campaign…
New federal survey data and private market analysis point to a housing market under acute affordability strain, with rising ownership costs colliding with rare, broad-based price cuts on new homes. The U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey reports that median monthly owner costs for mortgaged homes reached $2,035 in 2024, while a Realtor.com study, released…
Mortgage borrowers have been handed an unexpected boost as Nationwide cuts the cost of new fixed deals, dragging headline rates back towards the mid‑3% range and reviving talk of a fresh mortgage price war. The move sharpens competition just as expectations grow that borrowing costs will fall further over the next couple of years, raising…
Donald Trump is promising to tackle high mortgage costs head‑on, with ideas ranging from a $200 billion push to cut borrowing costs to a new 50‑year home loan. The pitch sounds simple: force rates down fast and give stretched buyers immediate relief. Yet the housing and bond markets are complex, and that is where this…
Peter Thiel is not known for understatement, and his latest warning about U.S. housing is no exception. The billionaire investor argues that the country is drifting into a real estate “catastrophe” that will batter young and lower middle class Americans while delivering a lucrative payoff to older owners. At the core of his argument is…