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Category: Economics

RESPA’s Prohibition Against Referral Fees, Kickbacks, Or Other Things Of Value For Referral Of Business

RESPA’s Prohibition Against Referral Fees, Kickbacks, Or Other Things Of Value For Referral Of Business

As Washington State’s residential real estate market heats up, an increasing number of settlement service providers are entering or re-entering the market to provide services to Washington’s consumers. New mortgage loan originators, escrow companies, mortgage brokers, and consumer loan companies should keep in mind the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act’s (RESPA) prohibition against giving or […]

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Government Intervention To Prevent Speculative Bubbles Will Always Fail As They Fail To Account For Human Flawed Decision Making (Wall St Journal)

Government Intervention To Prevent Speculative Bubbles Will Always Fail As They Fail To Account For Human Flawed Decision Making (Wall St Journal)

Memo to China: Your Market Moves Are Doomed to Fail JASON ZWEIG In your heart, you probably hope the Chinese government will succeed in its stunning interventions this past week to stay the panic on China’s stock exchanges. In your head, you should suspect it will fail. There’s something poignantly human about every attempt to […]

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Landfills Don’t Always Trash Home Values

Landfills Don’t Always Trash Home Values

Whether garbage dumps and waste sites affect property prices depends on how close they are and how big A person might expect that a landfill would always negatively impact the value of neighboring properties. Not so, says Montana State University professor Richard Ready. While essentially all high-volume landfills drag down surrounding home prices, his research […]

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Spokane-area job numbers are rebounding > Spokane Journal of Business

Spokane-area job numbers are rebounding > Spokane Journal of Business

Spokane-area job numbers are rebounding with higher-wage industries leading trend in growth. The number of jobs in Spokane County likely will reach prerecession levels this summer, at least a year earlier than projected last year, says Doug Tweedy, Spokane-based regional labor economist with the Washington state Employment Security Department. The mix of jobs, though, is […]

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Cosigning Student Loans Can Be Risky – Total Return – WSJ

Cosigning Student Loans Can Be Risky – Total Return – WSJ

The trend of cosigning loans—in which parents or other adult borrowers sign onto the loan along with students to help them get approved or to get a lower interest rate­—came under fire in a report released Thursday by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. One issue: Cosigners could find it harder to get access to other […]

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Five Bedrock Principles for Investors (Wall St Journal)

Five Bedrock Principles for Investors (Wall St Journal)

Brilliance isn’t the only key to Warren Buffett’s investing success. See rule No. 5…and these other fundamental truths that can help any investor, says Wall Street Journal columnist Morgan Housel. Source: Five Bedrock Principles for Investors

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Spokane-area job numbers are rebounding > Spokane Journal of Business

Spokane-area job numbers are rebounding > Spokane Journal of Business

Spokane-area job numbers are reboundingHigher-wage industries leading trend in growthMike McLean June 4th, 2015 0 0 0 0 0The number of jobs in Spokane County likely will reach prerecession levels this summer, at least a year earlier than projected last year, says Doug Tweedy, Spokane-based regional labor economist with the Washington state Employment Security Department.The mix of jobs, though, is […]

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When Family-Friendly Policies Backfire – NYTimes.com

When Family-Friendly Policies Backfire – NYTimes.com

Family-friendly policies can help parents balance jobs and responsibilities at home, and go a long way toward making it possible for women with children to remain in the work force. But these policies often have unintended consequences. They can end up discouraging employers from hiring women in the first place, because they fear women will […]

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Do My Business Need to Offer a Warranty?

Do My Business Need to Offer a Warranty?

By Le Trinh, Esq. on April 28, 2015 2:55 PM Most items we purchase are covered by some kind of warranty. Car salesmen often extol the benefits of their 10 year, 100,000 mile, bumper to bumper warranty. As a small business owner, do you need to offer a warranty? Is it required by law? Implied Warranty […]

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The Benefits and Costs of Hiring Independent Contractors

The Benefits and Costs of Hiring Independent Contractors

By Christopher Coble, Esq. on April 28, 2015 12:10 PM Like any important strategic business decision, whether to use independent contractors comes with its benefits and its costs. And it’s up to you to decide what works best for your company. And here are a few things to keep in mind if you have to […]

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