What we’re reading (11/23)
“Recession? The Inverted Yield Curve Is Stabilizing. What It Means.” (Barron’s). “The yield curve inversion appears to have stopped narrowing, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.”
“25% Of Americans Still Have Holiday Debt From Last Year: ‘If You’re In A Hole, Stop Digging,’ Says Money Expert” (CNBC). “For some shoppers, the upcoming holiday season may lead to piling on more debt. About 25% of Americans are still paying off holiday debt from 2022, according to WalletHub’s November holiday shopping survey.”
“Electric Vehicles: Automakers Fail To Dent Tesla’s Lead” (The Week). “‘Normally a 50% increase in sales is considered very good,’ said Jack Ewing in The New York Times. But when it comes to electric vehicles, it’s an alarming slowdown. EVs are still selling ‘faster than any other major category of automobiles.’ They now account for 8% of the total market for new cars sold in the U.S., up from 6% a year earlier. But recently released sales numbers show growth dipping from a year ago, when EV sales were rising at a pace of about 70% year. The data cast ‘doubt on whether generous federal tax credits for EV buyers were working as well as policymakers had hoped,’ and General Motors and Ford, who have pledged billions toward manufacturing more battery powered cars, seem noticeably anxious. Ford recently paused $12 billion in planned spending on EV production, while GM has pushed back launches of a slate of electric trucks and SUVs.”
“The Unproductive Entrepreneurship Of Silicon Valley” (Daniel Drezner). “[W]hat if the reason for government intervention comes from the incompetence and malfeasance of, you know, the entrepreneurs of Silicon Valley? Never forget that it was the likes of Andreessen that invested considerable amount of time and capital into cryptocurrencies, proclaiming that U.S. ‘hyperinflation’ meant a switch to crypto was inevitable. Ironically, it was precisely when U.S. inflation spiked that crypto crashed. The crypto market was not regulated much at all, and the result has been an awful lot of schemes, scams, and cons defrauding the uninformed. That accurately describes what Silicon Valley progeny Sam Bankman-Fried tried to do, and the outcome for him and his investors was pretty bad.”
“The Housing Market Will Be Stuck In A Rut For A Long Time Even If The US Avoids A Recession, Fannie Mae Says” (Business Insider). “The housing market isn't coming out of its deep freeze anytime soon, even if the US economy manages to steer away from a recession in the next year, according to Fannie Mae economists. The government-sponsored mortgage giant highlighted the stagnant US housing market, with existing home sales down 18.9% year per-year in June, according to Fannie Mae's estimate. Mortgage applications, similarly, have fallen to a 28-year-low.”
