The Era of Easy Money Is Over. That’s a Good Thing.www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/12/higher-interest-rates-fed-economy/676282/?utm_campaign=the-atlantic&utm_content=true-anthem&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter
1148 sats \ 6 comments \ @kr 11 Dec 2023 econ
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531 sats \ 1 reply \ @k00b 11 Dec 2023
This double whammy has produced the most punishing housing market in at least a generation: Buyers can’t afford to buy, and owners feel stuck in place. As my colleague Annie Lowrey points out, the market could be bleak until the 2030s.
We have one home on our street that's been on the market for nearly 6 months that was bought less than a year earlier. When the market was hot in Austin homes would hardly stay on the market for 1 week.
Over the last year, I went from seeing no homes for sale to passing double digit homes for sale on my 2.5 mile foot-commute.
The return of higher rates should help the economy course-correct. More money will flow to long-term investments and sustainable companies instead of speculative assets and impractical start-ups. Companies looking to boost their stock price will have to win new customers or develop better products instead of relying on financial engineering. The gains of economic growth will be more widely spread because less money will be funneled into assets owned mostly by the rich.
The author nearly sounds like a bitcoiner.
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487 sats \ 0 replies \ @kr OP 12 Dec 2023
seeing some similar trends in canada. a few months ago, homes for sale were surging, with many staying on the market longer than usual. now it seems like much of the activity is shifting to the rental market, seeing a ton of new “for rent” listings, albeit at record high prices… might be a function of many canadians renewing their mortgages at high rates and needing extra revenue to get by.
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25 sats \ 1 reply \ @blocktock 11 Dec 2023
Careful what we wish for. They now have the excuse to drain the punch bowl. And will use it.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @shado_op 13 Dec 2023
Agree. The article is a solid analysis of the complete long term failure of post credit crunch policy, and can be applied globally cos everyone followed the Fed Reserve. However, we need to be aware that the cure is as bad as the disease. The shake out could be catastrophic in terms of jobs, incomes and economic security. And house prices/rentals wont collapse to compensate; sure, they will fall, some projects will collapse, but throughout the West supply is nowhere near high enough to meet demand, so sellers will simply stop selling, and bide their time. Which is what happened in the Financial Crisis.
Daily life for a lot of people will get a whole lot worse I fear...
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @TomK 13 Dec 2023
If one thing is for sure it's that the easy money era is getting steam in the new liquidity cycle. The Atlantic isn't worth a minute any more.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @joyepzion 12 Dec 2023
This is quite a transition to make and I will love seeing it come true
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