KeNo's Housing and Economic Portal: Monday February 17 Housing and Economic stories

TOP STORIES:

Illinois Now Has the Second-Highest Property Taxes in the Nation - (www.chicagomag.com) With all the snow this week and the brutal cold forecast for Chicago next week, it’s no wonder so many of us are dreaming of Hawaii right about now. But if you own your home, those daydreams may not only be weather-related: in Hawaii, homeowners are taxed at about one-eighth the rate that Illinois homeowners pay. On that basis, you could dream about 48 of the states. Illinois now has the second-highest property taxes in the nation, according to a recent report from the Urban Institute. Only New Jersey had higher property tax rates as of the end of 2012, the period covered by the report. Property taxes in Illinois average 2.28 percent of a home’s value, according to the Urban Institute. In New Jersey, they’re 2.32 percent, and in lowest-taxing Hawaii, they’re 0.27 percent. (The lowest among mainland states is Alabama, at 0.46 percent.) All the states that ranked ahead of Illinois in the 2007–11 chart saw their tax rates go up in 2012. But the rate in Illinois went up more.

Taxi foe Uber suddenly hits rough road NYT - (www.cnbc.com) Suddenly, however, Mr. Kalanick is a bit besieged. Uber is being sued by its drivers, who say it is stealing their tips. Competitors are pressing it from all sides. Celebrity riders like Salman Rushdie and Jessica Seinfeld have had gripes too, usually about pricing. Much worse, there have been questions about the quality of the drivers, made more urgent after one here in San Francisco hit an immigrant family in a crosswalk on New Year's Eve, killing a 6-year-old. Her death has provoked the first wrongful-death lawsuit against Uber, which is expected to be filed on Monday. Uber and its abundance of imitators represent a new stage for technology companies. These businesses directly insert themselves into the physical world, arranging on-demand transportation, meals or even clean laundry in exchange for a sweet commission. Unlike Facebook or Twitter, which thrive in the safe confines of cyberspace, these start-ups live on the streets.

Bitcoin bust: CEO of currency exchange arrested - (www.cnbc.com) Two executives of a bitcoin exchange have been arrested on charges of selling bitcoins to be used to buy and sell illegal drugs anonymously, according to a statement from the Manhattan U.S. attorney's office. The two arrested were Robert M. Faiella, CEO of BitInstant, and Charlie Shrem, the company's compliance officer. According to the statement, both men are accused of participating in a scheme to sell more than $1 million in Bitcoins to users of "Silk Road," the underground website that allowed people to anonymously buy and sell illegal drugs. "The charges announced today depict law enforcement's commitment to identifying those who promote the sale of illegal drugs throughout the world. Hiding behind their computers, both defendants are charged with knowingly contributing to and facilitating anonymous drug sales, earning substantial profits along the way," said James J. Hunt, the DEA acting special agent in charge of the case, in the statement.

How Venezuela’s Curency Craziness Trashes Airline Service - (www.businessweek.com) Venezuela is cracking down on the scrape, a bargain-travel scheme widely reported last fall—and may wind up reducing its air service as a result. Travelers in the inflation-wracked South American nation have been able to exploit the difference between the official exchange rate and the black market rate by buying airline tickets in the local currency and exchanging up to $3,000. That provision had meant flights from Venezuela got booked up months in advance and roused the ire of government officials, who are trying to conserve their supply of hard currency (the U.S. greenback), which has dwindled to a 10-year low. Due to Venezuela’s currency controls, airlines have $3.3 billion from their local sales “trapped,” as United Airlines’ (UAL) chief financial officer phrased it last week. Airlines are balking at the government’s offer to honor that debt with bonds, cash, and jet fuel, according to the Associated Press. Panama’s Copa Airlines (CPA) has more than $400 million stuck in Venezuela and will likely need to write off some that it won’t be able to repatriate, Raymond James analyst Savanthi Syth wrote in a client note last week. Copa shares have dropped 14.5 percent this month, mostly due to investor concerns over its Venezuelan exposure. United said Thursday that it has $80 million awaiting repatriation from Venezuela, and it has also stopped selling tickets there for Copa, a partner airline.

The new face of food stamps: working-age Americans - (finance.yahoo.com) In a first, working-age people now make up the majority in U.S. households that rely on food stamps — a switch from a few years ago, when children and the elderly were the main recipients. Some of the change is due to demographics, such as the trend toward having fewer children. But a slow economic recovery with high unemployment, stagnant wages and an increasing gulf between low-wage and high-skill jobs also plays a big role. It suggests that government spending on the $80 billion-a-year food stamp program — twice what it cost five years ago — may not subside significantly anytime soon. Food stamp participation since 1980 has grown the fastest among workers with some college training, a sign that the safety net has stretched further to cover America's former middle class, according to an analysis of government data for The Associated Press by economists at the University of Kentucky. Formally called Supplemental Nutrition Assistance, or SNAP, the program now covers 1 in 7 Americans. The findings coincide with the latest economic data showing workers' wages and salaries growing at the lowest rate relative to corporate profits in U.S. history.

OTHER STORIES:

China Credit Trust Says It Reached Pact on Troubled Product - (www.bloomberg.com)
Top Trades in Disarray Amidst Emerging-Market Rout: Currencies - (www.bloomberg.com)

China Builders Lead Dollar-Bond Declines as Asia Debt Risk Rises - (www.bloomberg.com)
Europe treads softly in challenging big banks' power - (www.reuters.com)