1980s debt crisis

So whether they are actively recruiting these low-income students for reasons of open-the-door altruism or keep-the-lights-on capitalism — or, more likely, some combination of the two — there has been a huge, largely hidden byproduct of this dramatic increase in access: These students are often being loaded up with staggering debt that is completely out of whack with the earnings boost they’ll likely get from a degree at a nonselective or less selective college. Already, average student loan debt is higher in Boston than any other metro area in the country, 44 percent above the national average, according to Credit Karma. But  more troubling, many of these low-income students — and, at some colleges, most of them — are not graduating. That means these non-completers are leaving campus saddled with lots of debt but none of the salary gains that traditionally come with a bachelor’s degree. RELATED STORY: Poor at an Ivy League school Dean College … [Read more...] about The college debt crisis is even worse than you think

ENVIRONMENT 06/01/2018 05:46 am ET Nine months after Hurricane Maria, Florida’s biggest city is struggling to aid Puerto Ricans as they suffer a quiet epidemic of homesickness and worry for the next storm season. By Alexander C. Kaufman MIAMI ― “Christmas,” Mariner Ostolaza said mournfully, like it’s the name of a loved one who died too young. “Do you know what a Christmas is in Puerto Rico?” She sets her coffee down, freeing her hands to gesticulate pizzazz, and answers her own question. It starts on Thanksgiving and it ends in mid-January with Fiestas de la Calle de San Sebastián, a street festival. “It’s three months of partying, drinking and freaking good-ass music,” she said, sighing. “Being here, it was sad. My family over here is already Americanized, so they don’t do the same parties or the same traditions we have over there.” The 28-year-old fled to Florida’s largest … [Read more...] about Miami’s Displaced Puerto Ricans Offer A Glimpse At America’s Looming Climate Crisis

The ongoing debate on Demonetisation has brought to the fore the interface between political economy and issues of legal significance, which is discernible only to a trained observer. Chirashree Das Gupta is a scholar and Associate Professor at the Centre for the Study of Law and Governance, Jawaharlal Nehru University,who has exhibited a profound interest in the political economy of institutions, and the legal instruments available to a State to keep its control over them. Her recent book is State and Capital in Independent India: Institutions and Accumulation, published by the Cambridge University Press, which is being released at the LASSnet Conference, being held in New Delhi from December 10 to 12.Das Gupta’s other publications include an article titled ‘Unravelling Bihar’s Growth Miracle’ in Sudha Pai (ed), Handbook of Politics in Indian States: Regions, Parties and Economic Reforms,(2013). One of her articles, which is of interest to the readers, is … [Read more...] about Demonetisation Has Brought The Legal Culpability Of The RBI Under Scrutiny, Says Chirashree Das Gupta, Academic & Author

Register for this month’s CLE, “What We’ve Learned from the Real Estate Crisis—So Far,” from 1-2 p.m. ET on Wednesday, July 16.If you want to find ground zero of the implosion in the U.S. real estate market, just look for people like Nettie and Leroy Sallet.The Sallets needed some money. Desperately. In poor health and elderly, they were scraping by on Social Security checks that barely gave them enough to buy food and medicine. Then Leroy fell ill, leaving them with a daunting pile of medical bills. And their modest home was in urgent need of repairs. They want­ed to replace the carpeting, for instance, because it had become so badly worn that it was hard for them to maneuver their walkers over its uneven surface.It was 2006, and housing prices were sky-high in the Jacksonville, Fla., area, so Nettie and Leroy decided to raise some money by taking out a loan against their home. They didn’t seek counsel from a lawyer, and in May 2006 they … [Read more...] about Homing in on Foreclosure

Real estate is prone to cycles of strength and weakness, to periods of growth and decline. The ongoing challenge—particularly for businesses and individuals for whom real estate is a primary asset or investment—is to ensure that the solutions to any current problem do not also plant the seeds of the next crisis. Equally important, opportunities seized during times of prosperity should not set in motion a chain of events that lead to a subsequent collapse.From the first day we opened our doors at Much Shelist, the firm has served the legal needs of the commercial real estate market in Chicago. Over the intervening four decades, we have seen the industry go through several cycles of boom, bubble and bust. Even a brief overview of this period reveals striking similarities between the challenges we face today and those we've faced in the past, and offers important insights into the solutions being debated right now.The 1970sIn many ways, the modern commercial real estate market … [Read more...] about Forty Years in Commercial Real Estate: Weathering the Cycles of Boom, Bubble and Bust