APRIL 2006

Is the U.S. Current Account Deficit Dangerous?

Although this deficit has been rising steadily since the early 1990s, a “hard landing” for the U.S. economy is unlikely. One reason is that only in the United States can so many foreigners invest so much money and get such good returns.

With Less To Do at Home, More Women Are at Work

The ranks of women in the workfoce jumped by more than 24 percentage points between 1955 and 1999.  Credit labor-saving devices at home (such as the dishwasher), the birth-control pill and the preference by some men to marry a woman who works outside the home.

Low Down Payments Boost Home Ownership

More young people, poor people and minorities are buying homes these days, but not because of tax deductions or government affordable-housing programs.