US ECONOMY & POLITICS

US ECONOMY & POLITICS

U.S. Existing-Home Prices Hit Record High in May – Wall Street Journal, 6/22/2021

• The median home price topped $350,000 for the first time in May as a shortage of properties and low interest rates drove double-digit monthly increases this spring.
• Existing-home sales fell 0.9% in May from April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.8 million.
• May sales rose 44.6% from a year earlier, when home sales dropped due to Covid-related lockdowns.
• The median existing-home price rose 23.6% in May from a year earlier to $350,300, a record high, NAR said.
• The annual price appreciation was the strongest in data going back to 1999.
• Homes are selling quickly. The typical home that sold in May spent 17 days on the market, matching the record low reached in April, NAR said.
• Buyers with limited cash for down payments are struggling the most to compete.
• Half of existing-home buyers in April who used mortgages put at least 20% down, according to a NAR survey.
• There were 1.23 million homes for sale at the end of May, up 7% from April and down 20.6% from May 2020.
• At the current sales pace, there was a 2.5-month supply of homes on the market at the end of May.

Elections-Law Vote to Test Democrats’ Unity Amid GOP Opposition – Wall Street Journal, 6/22/2021

• The Democratic-controlled Senate plans to hold a test vote on sweeping election-law revisions Tuesday, after weeks of intraparty wrangling over the measure and calls from the party’s progressive wing to force it through without Republican support.
• The vote Tuesday, which is expected to fall short of the 60 senators needed to open debate, will serve as a test of Democratic unity on election-related issues.
• Most Senate Democrats have backed legislation dubbed S-1 to change everything from the way campaigns are financed to how districts are drawn and elections are conducted, but they are telegraphing that they would support a narrower set of changes proposed by Sen. Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.).
• Some Democrats have said the party shouldn’t accept defeat and that the voting-rights bill is so important the Senate should change chamber rules to end the legislative filibuster and allow the bill to pass by simple majority.
• But several Democratic centrists, most prominently Mr. Manchin and Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, have rejected ending the filibuster, though some have suggested ways to weaken it.
• In an opinion article published in the Washington Post late Monday, Ms. Sinema reiterated her opposition to scotching the filibuster, saying it would undercut bipartisanship and could lead to “wild swings between opposing policy poles.”

Labor, green groups urge White House to reject a ‘watered-down’ infrastructure deal – Reuters, 6/22/2021

• Leaders of environmental and labor groups – two of President Joe Biden’s biggest supporters – urged the White House and Democratic congressional leaders on Tuesday to reject any bipartisan infrastructure deal that lacks strong provisions to tackle climate change and strengthen unions.
• The BlueGreen Alliance, whose partners include some of the country’s biggest environmental groups and labor unions, said in a letter its members were “troubled by recent proposals” that are “watered down.”
• It called on Democrats to strive for an infrastructure package that captures the main elements of Biden’s proposed $1.7 trillion package.
• The letter was signed by the heads of organizations ranging from the United Steelworkers, Service Employees International Union, Sierra Club and Natural Resources Defense Council.

New York City Voters Go to Polls to Pick Next Mayor – Wall Street Journal, 6/22/2021

• New Yorkers headed to the polls Tuesday to determine the next mayor of New York City and the winners in dozens of other primary races, but many contests may not be called for weeks.
• The primaries were the biggest test yet of the city’s new ranked-choice voting system, which allows voters to list up to five candidates in a race in preferential order.
• The Democratic mayoral primary has 13 candidates on the ballot, while the Republican race has only two.
• If no candidate gets a majority of votes, then the ranked-choice voting system kicks in. However, a winner won’t be declared for weeks.

EUROPE & WORLD

Euro-Area Consumer Confidence Well Above Pre-Crisis Level – Bloomberg, 6/22/2021

• Consumer confidence in the euro area improved to well above its pre-pandemic levels in June as coronavirus infection rates fell and restrictions began to be lifted across the bloc.
• The region is on track for a strong rebound in the second quarter, with the European Central Bank foreseeing economic growth of 4.6% in 2021.
• ECB President Christine Lagarde said this week that monetary and fiscal stimulus must continue “well into the recovery.”

China to Keep Covid-19 Border Restrictions for Another Year – Wall Street Journal, 6/22/2021

• Beijing is planning to keep its pandemic border restrictions in place for at least another year as officials fret over the emergence of new variants and a calendar of sensitive events, according to people familiar with the matter, despite a coronavirus vaccination campaign that has topped one billion doses.
• The provisional timeline of the second half of 2022 was set during a mid-May meeting of the country’s cabinet, or State Council, attended by officials from China’s Foreign Ministry and National Health Commission, among other government bodies, one of the people said.
• The cautious attitude is being driven by a pair of events that officials are eager to have go off without a hitch next year: the Winter Olympics in February and a once-a-decade power transition within the ruling Chinese Communist Party toward the end of the year.
• At the Communist Party Congress, Chinese leader Xi Jinping is widely expected to seek an additional term beyond the customary two-term limit.

Tokyo Olympics to Allow Spectators at Summer Games – Wall Street Journal, 6/21/2021

• The Summer Olympics in Tokyo will include up to 10,000 Japanese spectators at each event, organizers said, despite advice by leading doctors that the Games would be safer without crowds.
• Monday’s decision clears up the final major uncertainty about the Games ahead of the opening ceremony on July 23.
• Officials said in March that foreign spectators wouldn’t be permitted to travel to Japan to attend the Olympics.
• Guidelines released by the International Olympic Committee and Tokyo organizers said venues could be filled up to 50% capacity, with a maximum of 10,000 spectators at each event.
• Plans could change if infections in Japan rise sharply, they said.

Hong Kong’s Apple Daily Considers Closing Unless Government Releases Funds – Wall Street Journal, 6/21/2021

• The publisher of the popular pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper said it may cease publishing after authorities froze its assets and charged senior executives including its top editor under the national-security law.
• Its closure would herald the biggest blow to press freedom in the city since Beijing imposed a national-security law in June 2020 to crush dissent in the Chinese territory. Apple Daily and its jailed founder, Jimmy Lai, have been frequent targets for the city’s authorities.
• Board members of Next Digital, the newspaper’s publisher, met on Monday and set a Friday deadline to decide whether to close down operations, Apple Daily reported.
• The board voted to request that the government release portions of its assets so that it can pay its employees.

Europe’s Wizz Air expects to fully recover from pandemic next year – Reuters, 6/21/2021

• European budget carrier Wizz Air expects to fully recover from the coronavirus crisis as travel demand rebounds from the pandemic, its chief executive said on Monday.
• Speaking at the virtual Paris Air Forum, Jozsef Varadi repeated recent comments that the Hungary-based airline would fly more seats this summer than it was flying two years ago before the pandemic struck.
• “From my perspective, 2022 should be a fairly robust year in terms of delivering not just the volume of traffic but also the financial performance attached to it,” he said.
• Speaking alongside Varadi, Air France-KLM CEO Ben Smith said he had been pleasantly surprised at the demand among travelers visiting friends and family.
• “We are hoping to run about 60-65% of capacity this summer.”

Factmonster – TODAY in HISTORY

• Napoleon abdicated his throne for the second time after his defeat at Waterloo. (1815)
• The U.S. Justice Department was created. (1870)
• President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the G.I. Bill of Rights. (1944)
• Legendary Boston crime boss, James “Whitey” Bulger is found and arrested by federal authorities in Santa Monica, Calif.(2011)