Moving and Retirement
The Beige Book Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions By Federal Reserve District Wednesday November 30, 2022
Overall Economic Activity: Economic activity was about flat or up slightly since the previous report, down from the modest average pace of growth in the prior Beige Book period...Interest rates and inflation continued to weigh on activity, and many contacts expressed greater uncertainty or increased pessimism concerning the outlook...Inflation pushed low-to-moderate income consumers to substitute increasingly to lower-priced goods. Travel and tourism contacts, by contrast, reported moderate gains in activity, as restaurants and high-end hospitality venues enjoyed robust demand. Higher interest rates further dented home sales, which declined at a moderate pace overall but fell steeply in some districts; apartment leasing started to slow, as well. more »
Continuous Challenges: Dr. Anthony Fauci Reflects On the Perpetual Challenge of Infectious Diseases
Dr. Anthony Fauci notes that the emergence of HIV/AIDS in 1981 led to a sharp increase in interest in infectious diseases among people entering the field of medicine. Since then, infectious disease specialists have faced numerous medical challenges, including the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, Ebola, Zika, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and COVID-19, he writes. Dr. Fauci notes that one success of the response was the rapid development, testing and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines thanks to years of research and investment in new and highly adaptable vaccine platforms and structural biology tools to design vaccine immunogens. more »
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Issues Guidance to Address Shoddy Investigation Practices by Consumer Reporting Companies
"The CFPB has found that consumer reporting companies and some furnishers have failed to conduct reasonable investigations of consumer disputes and to spend the time necessary to get to the bottom of inaccuracies. These failures can affect, among other things, people’s eligibility for loans and interest rates, for insurance, and for rental housing and employment. “One wrong piece of information on a person’s credit report can have destructive consequences that follow a consumer for years,” said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra. “Companies that fail to properly address consumer disputes in accordance with the law may face serious consequences.” more »
A la Frank Sinatra: "Come Fly With Me", U.S. Department of Transportation Airline Customer Service Dashboard
"These ten large U.S. airlines and their regional operating partners, which operate flights for them but do not sell tickets, account for approximately 96 percent of the domestic scheduled passenger air traffic. Use the ... dashboard to learn about the amenities that the U.S. airline that you are flying on has promised to provide should there be a controllable flight cancellation or delay. You can also use the dashboard to compare amenities that the airlines commit to provide in the event of a controllable flight cancellation or delay when deciding which airline to fly." more »