HOT TOPIC: Are Housing Troubles Standing in the Way of Growth?
In the wake of past recessions, the housing industry provided a meaningful economic boost. This time around, the pace of the recovery has been more sluggish than expected, and ongoing weakness in the housing sector may be to blame.
On the Committees
The closely watched "yield curve" has been fairly adept at signaling the onset of U.S. economic recessions. A yield curve inversion would seem to be a fairly straightforward method for ascertaining the direction of the economy, but more often than not it's not so simple.
Another Economic Stimulus
Temporary incentives could affect businesses of all sizes. Although Congress was unable to tackle the controversial issue of future income tax rates before the 2010 midterms, it quietly passed a little-noticed tax package, the Small Business Jobs Act of 2009 (H.R. 5297), that may benefit small businesses and even individual taxpayers.
HOT TOPIC: The Federal Estate Tax Is Back and May Be Here to Stay
The estate tax has been reinstated after being allowed to lapse in 2010. The new estate tax provisions are the most generous in decades — but they are temporary. A far more stringent estate tax is slated to take effect after 2012. Fortunately, a properly structured trust may help some families reduce their potential exposure to the estate tax.
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