Author's articles
How Will The US Economy Recover?
By Dane Smith · 16 years ago
You would probably have to have been living on a remote desert island for the better part of two years to not see any signs of the slowdown in the economy of the United States. ...
Real Estate: Where's The Bottom?
By Dane Smith · 16 years ago
In recent months, the US real estate market has seen its fair share of turbulent weather as house prices continue to fall. While the Federal Reserve has taken significant steps towards making lending cheaper, interest ...
Credit Crunch: Light at the End of the Tunnel
By Dane Smith · 16 years ago
When thinking about the economic slowdown now gripping the United States, one might think of the naked emperor of yore, who could not realize his condition until told by a child. By the time analysts ...
Health Insurance for Musicians? - An Innovative Austin Program
By Dane Smith · 16 years ago
Austin enjoys the self-promoted but well-deserved reputation as live music capital of the world. In recent years, the city has decided to put its money where its mouth is to ensure that it stays that ...
Interest Rates and the Credit Crunch
By Dane Smith · 16 years ago
In Greek mythology, the hydra was a beast that, when one of its many heads were severed, would grow new heads in their place. The sub-prime mortgage crisis has developed in a similar fashion, initially ...
Current Issues with the Global Economy
By Dane Smith · 16 years ago
Though the housing bubble deflated about two years ago, its true effects are only now beginning to emerge. In late 2006, when the economy first began to show signs of weakness in the housing market, ...
Bear Stearns and the New Federal Reserve
By Dane Smith · 16 years ago
On March 14th, Bear Stearns, the fifth-largest investment bank in the United States, entered a period of insolvency. As growing lack of confidence in the firm's subprime exposure grew, other banks eventually refused to lend ...
Why the Fed is Having Less Influence over Mortgage Interest Rates
By Dane Smith · 16 years ago
In the past when the Federal Reserve cut the discount rate it translated into lower mortgage interest rates for home buyers. This was a convenient way for the Federal Reserve to stimulate the economy during ...
Subprime Woes Reach New Heights
By Dane Smith · 16 years ago
As the sub-prime mortgage crisis continues to unfold, new figures emerge from the Mortgage Banker's Association: A record .83. That means that, in three months, one out of one hundred homeowners have been foreclosed on. ...
Bear Stearns and the Free Market
By Dane Smith · 16 years ago
The recent government-sponsored bailout of Bear Stearns, one of the top five lenders in the United States, has shocked traders and left investors cold. Despite the chilly reaction on Wall Street, secretly many are breathing ...
South by Southwest in Austin
By Dane Smith · 16 years ago
In 1987, South by Southwest started as a weekend long music festival run by a handful of people, and today has grown into a 10 day long music, film and interactive festival with a full ...
Austin Burger Places
By Dane Smith · 16 years ago
Though many in Austin consider themselves to be health conscious, there are still moments in each of their lives when a good hamburger sounds delicious. Austin is home to many burger joints, and some have ...
History of the SXSW Music Festival
By Dane Smith · 16 years ago
The South by Southwest Music Festival has been running strong, and getting stronger, since it originated in 1987. Austin considers itself the live music capital of the world, and though cities would like to battle ...
Subprime Woes: Are We Out of the Woods Yet?
By Dane Smith · 16 years ago
In the last week, many encouraging signs have been on the economic radar: The Bush administration has stated that a consensus has been reached about the impending $145 billion economic stimulus package, the Federal Reserve ...
US Recession Inevitable?
By Dane Smith · 16 years ago
As the sub-prime mortgage scandal continues to play out badly for many US companies, more and more questions have been raised as to whether the impact of a slowdown in one area will translate into ...
Austin Farmer's Markets
By Dane Smith · 16 years ago
As many Austinites relish living a healthy lifestyle, it’s no surprise that Farmers’ Markets are a hit in the city. The markets bring fresh foods from locally grown areas to those looking for an alternative ...
Austin BBQ: A Tour of the Town
By Dane Smith · 16 years ago
Deep in the heart of Austin Texas, folks have been cooking up their own brand of BBQ for years and years. Unlike those other BBQ meccas like Memphis and Kansas City, where pulled pork is ...
Sluggish Fed, Why Are You So Sluggish?
By Dane Smith · 16 years ago
In recent months, fallout from the sub-prime mortgage scandal has been estimated in the hundreds of billions, up from figures of $100 billion maximum from the Federal Reserve only three months ago. While the Fed ...
Waterloo Records: An Austin Original
By Dane Smith · 17 years ago
Since 1982, Waterloo Records has been providing Austin with music for all tastes. Winning "Best Record Store" in the Austin Chronicle Reader’s Poll since its inception explains why Waterloo Records still stands when many other ...
Weathering the Storm of the Slipping Dollar
By Dane Smith · 16 years ago
The greenback has been slipping against the euro, the Chinese yuan, and the pound for the past nine months or so, reaching record lows amidst a global credit crunch and plummeting real estate prices. What ...