Category: Finance

Many Florida homeowners cheered on Nov. 3, 2026, when more than 60% of voters approved a constitutional amendment to significantly reduce property taxes. Under the measure, Amendment 3, a homeowner’s tax break, known as a homestead exemption, would triple from the current US$50,000 to $150,000 in 2027 and increase again to $250,000 in 2028. By […]

As Democrats and Republicans look at the overwhelming results of the 2026 midterm election, it’s worth remembering what has become a political axiom in America: “It’s the economy, stupid.” Democratic strategist James Carville famously said that to presidential candidate Bill Clinton in 1992, but he might have said “it’s energy prices” instead. The cost of […]

People tend to think more highly of companies that give to charity on a monthly or weekly basis rather than donating an annual lump sum worth the same amount. This is what I and five other marketing researchers found when we conducted seven studies involving more than 150,000 people. The Journal of Marketing Research, which […]

Amazon, Costco, Target, Walmart and other retailers begin their holiday sales as early as October. But there’s no need to rush to buy wool scarves, fuzzy throw blankets and the other holiday gifts on your list the second you spot some tinsel while shopping. As a finance professor who studies how people and companies make […]

Polling is looking grim for Republicans ahead of the U.S. midterm elections on Nov. 3, 2026, due in large part to deep pessimism among the public about the economy. At first glance, this might seem surprising. With the exception of inflation, many economic measures remain strong, including gross domestic product growth. But consumer sentiment continues […]

Allegheny County will undergo a countywide reassessment of every property it taxes for the first time since 2012. A county judge ordered the reassessment in August 2026, requiring the work to begin by July 1, 2027, and finish within five years. The goal is to bring property values in line with today’s market. That could […]

Imagine you get hit by a car. An ambulance brings you to the nearest hospital. Your private health insurance covers emergency care, but the hospital isn’t in your plan’s network. Before 2022, if you received emergency care from an out-of-network provider or hospital, you could get hit with an extra, often huge bill on top […]

Catherine Bilskie, the advertising and office manager for the newspaper in Solon, Iowa, had seen many local news outlets close. So she was sure her job at the Solon Economist was about to go one Friday morning in February 2024. But to her surprise, a new owner, Jason Brummond, appeared. He not only promised to […]

Three times a week, Amber Titus wakes up at 5 a.m. to get ready for the 45-minute drive to the methadone clinic. Titus, 38, and her husband live with their two young children in Bisbee Junction, Arizona, a rural community near the U.S.-Mexico border. The couple started taking methadone, a medication that treats opioid addiction, […]

After 10 states began to add new restrictions to what people could buy with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits in early 2026, the number of convenience stores authorized to accept those benefits was 1.4% lower than would be expected based on trends in states without the policy change. That’s what we found in our study, […]