Business Update – November 29, 2023

11/27/2023 | Bookkeeper Buddy

Welcome to our Weekly Digest – stay in the know with some recent news updates relevant to business and the economy.

Americans expected to increase spending this holiday season

According to one survey, American shoppers are expected to spend 14% more this holiday season than they did in 2022, this despite inflation and high interest rates. Roxana Saberi has more.

The looming office space real estate shortage. Yes, shortage

There is more pain to come in the office real estate market across the U.S., with maturing debt needing to be refinanced and a wave of expiring leases, but there is also what may seem at first brush to be a counter-intuitive message being sent to top tier companies by real estate intelligence company CoStar Group: prepare for an office space shortage.

US economy doing better than national mood suggests. What to consider.

Americans have been in a grumpy mood of late. Pessimism stood at “overwhelmingly high” levels, Gallup reported in mid-October, echoing similar grim readings from the University of Michigan and other pollsters. But perceptions aren’t entirely matching reality, at least when it comes to financial, economic and money issues.

The 20 worst states to be a property owner

People complain the most about income taxes, but property taxes aren’t much fun, either, and worth paying attention to when you’re thinking about relocating. This list ranks the states with the highest effective real-estate tax rates, with the worst five states having an average rate of 2.17%.

Houston, Dallas, Miami, and Nashville are poised to become economic powerhouses in the US.

The future of the US economy could be powered by cities in the Sunbelt. Economic and societal power in the US may be shifting away from colossal coastal cities such as New York and San Francisco to metropolitan areas tucked below the Mason-Dixon line, as Barron’s recently reported.

Biden and Xi’s meeting sent an important signal for U.S. business in China

U.S. President Joe Biden’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping last week has set a bottom line in the relationship which reduces uncertainty for businesses, analysts said.

The Federal Reserve Broke The Budget. Buckle Up For What Comes Next.

The Federal Reserve’s years of enabling big budget deficits by keeping interest rates ultralow are over. But the long-term costs are just becoming clear.

Is the US economy is on its final descent to a soft landing?

After defying recession fears this year, the US economy is forecast by Goldman Sachs Research to easily beat consensus expectations again in 2024.

These 6 trends will define retail and e-commerce in 2024

From new AI applications to a forthcoming clash between retail media networks and larger media players, the retail space is poised to see major disruption in 2024. Experts share their predictions.

America’s Runaway Debt Scenario: $1 Trillion in Interest per Year

America’s debt spiral could devolve into a fiscal crisis or hyperinflation, several economists say. The U.S. federal government has borrowed so much money that, over the past year, it has had to spend one-fifth of all the money it collected just on debt interest—which came to almost $880 billion.

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