U.S. student loan balances rose again, reaching a record $1.16 trillion by the end of 2014 while delinquencies rose as young Americans struggle to keep up with their mounting piles of debt.
The European Union and Greece are at a stalemate over Greek debt, even as talks continued over the weekend.
An anonymous Greek official said in an email that finance ministers, who were meeting with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, failed to come to an agreement over Greece’s burgeoning debt load. According to the email, the Greek government is refusing to extend its current debt repayment terms, with Varoufakis saying that Greece was currently facing an “ultimatum” from the EU.
With the Greek elections drawing to a rather shocking end, Greek investors are leaving the euro for gold to prevent getting caught up in the political turmoil. With the recently elected government showing no particular interest in adhering to the European council, and economic recovery efforts leading nowhere, it is understandable that the Greek people are turning to metal to preserve their wealth.
A new government crackdown is targeting lawyers abusing an investment visa program.
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission announced it is pursuing an investigation against business owners and lawyers who the SEC claims are running “fraudulent investment scams” to exploit a little-known visa program that awards U.S. residency to wealthy foreigners.
By 2008, the state of Oregon had witnessed tremendous job losses and sadly, the situation is still bad seven years later. With worsening debt, high personal income and property taxes, and snail-paced employment growth, Oregon is among the most economically troubled states in the US.
Two government reports released on Thursday indicate the U.S. recovery might not be as strong as previously believed.
Retail sales fell 0.8% on a month-to-month basis in January, the United States Department of Commerce reported. On a year-over-year basis, January retail sales rose 3.3% compared to the same period in 2014, a disappointing increase. Economists expected much stronger growth in retail sales, as low activity a year ago provided an easy basis for growth in 2015.
South Africa’s trade deficit turned into a trade surplus for the first time in 10 months in December 2014. Exports increased while imports of both machinery and oil declined.
In an e-mail from the Pretoria-based South African Revenue Service, the trade surplus stood at 6.8 billion rand ($586 million US) compared to a revised shortage of 5.3 billion rand back in November. The average estimate from 14 economists was for a surplus of roughly 1.8 billion rand.
The Reserve Bank of Australia cut its benchmark interest rate to an all-time low of 2.25% on February 3. The move came as the Australian government sought to rejuvenate an extremely sluggish economy while at the same time keeping downward pressure on the Australian dollar.
Property in the United States is getting more expensive and demand for real estate is falling even when mortgage rates remain at record lows.
A flurry of indicators suggests that the real estate market in the U.S. is slowing due to steady price gains, while mortgage-refinancing activity is slowing, as interest rates have remained tightly range-bound in the past few years.
Spain’s unemployment level just experienced its sharpest, most impressive drop since the country began using the euro. Experts suggest that the drop is further evidence that the country is finally beginning to turn around. That is, unless they are not counting those who have just given up looking for work like U.S. data does to underestimate reality.
