Separate, Not Equal

The tale of the haves and have nots is an all-too-familiar narrative in America. For the past 35 years, real wages haven’t budged for the majority of flag-waving, red, white, and true blue believers in the land of the free.

An interesting variation on our economic duality was offered up by reporters, Nick Timiraos and Kris Hudson, in Thursday’s Wall Street Journal. They write that our economy is now “two-tiered,” and companies selling consumer goods are paying attention to this, in order to better reach those with the pay to play.

Timiraos and Hudson offer up the example of Quadrant Homes, a Seattle-area builder that used to build starter houses for $269,000, with a marketing slogan, “More House, Less Money.” Quadrant, however, recognized that their customer base—middle-class homebuyers looking to get into their first homes—was weighted down with debt and credit issues. The company is now going after those in the economy who have done well, offering amenities like “vaulted ceilings and gourmet kitchens.” They’ve also adopted a new marketing tagline; “Build Your Way,” for consumers who want and can afford choices beyond a mere tar paper shack. Continue reading

Owning a Home

Foreclosures in America are at a crisis level.

Foreclosures in America are at a crisis level.

We can debate whether or not owning property is an American birthright. Home ownership, however, is part and parcel of a dream that we’ve all been sold on since before we could walk.  What does 10 million foreclosures say about that dream?

Most anyone reading that number is likely to have a couple of reactions, I’m guessing. One, where did the 10,000,000 number come from? I’ll get to that in a moment. By the way, 10,000,000 is a number that represents the number of people making up the population of the state of Michigan, America’s 10th most populated state. Continue reading