TheStreet: Did Government Dithering Cause Secular Stagnation?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

The secular stagnation meme just got torpedoed.

Exceptionally high uncertainty over government policies around the globe is responsible for the period of sluggish growth we've seen since the financial crisis, according to new research which appears to refute the ideas of a former Treasury chief.

"The elevated levels of global policy uncertainty in the past five years compared even to the crisis years of 2008-09 is remarkable," states the October-dated paper titled "An Index of Global Economic Policy Uncertainty" by Steven Davis, professor of international business and economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Read more here.

U.S. News: Investors Have to Be Careful With Real Estate

By SIMON CONSTABLE

The housing market isn't getting red hot any time soon. So instead of just throwing money at anything related to real estate, investors wanting exposure to the housing sector will need to be careful how they put their cash to work.

The matter stems from a change in attitude from the largest generation of U.S. residents – those 75 million people born between 1981 and 1997, a.k.a. the millennials, according to the Pew Research Center.

Housing and economic growth were once synonymous. From the end of World War II up until the financial crisis of 2008-09 there wasn't a single recovery that didn't involve housing playing a major role. Then things changed, and how. Read more here.

Forbes: ObamaCare Just Made My Eyes Water

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Thanks ObamaCare! You just made my eyes water.

The same is probably true for many other people.

Bad News

In an economy where inflation is said to be subdued, premiums for The Affordable Care Act are set to jump by an average of 25% next year, according to new government figures. That’s the just the average. It means some people will see increases of even more than that.

My eyes are still watering. Read more here.

Outside On The Street: Why Restaurant Wine Is A Ripoff

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Wine connoisseur Mark Oldman explains how to make the best use of your money when buying wine at dinner.

WSJ: Is Longevity Insurance Too Risky?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

The chance of a guaranteed lifetime income in old age seems like something risk-averse people would jump at.

Yet many of them are shunning a product—a type of annuity known as longevity insurance—designed to provide just that.

The problem, a recent study found, may stem from the need to make a large single payment to buy the insurance when people don’t know how long they are going to live. Such insurance typically starts paying a fixed monthly sum to beneficiaries when they reach age 80 or 85. But the payments stop when the policyholder dies. Read more here.

Outside On The Street: What Are The Biggest Wine Investing Mistakes

By SIMON CONSTABLE


What Are the Biggest Wine Investing Mistakes? from Constable Confidential on Vimeo.

Photo by Klara Kulikova on Unsplash

Outside On The Street: What Is The 2 AM Principle?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Jon Levy explains why it's sometimes better to stay up late and have a special experience. He is the author of The 2 AM Principle, and explains his ideas in this video.