The American economy finished off last year on a firm footing, and is poised for more vigorous growth in the months to come.
Preliminary estimates released by the government on Friday showed that the nation’s output increased at an annual rate of 2.6 percent in the final quarter of 2017. Although that performance amounts to less than the heady 4 percent annual growth that President Trump has promised, it is further evidence — along with a sinking jobless rate and surging consumer confidence — of the economy’s resilience.
“The year-end is solid,” said Joel Prakken, chief United States economist at Macroeconomic Advisers by IHS Markit. Details within the report, about climbing business investment and depleted inventories, suggest more economic strength than the bare-bones headline number might indicate. “It portends well for 2018 demand,” he said.
Manhattan real estate is some of the priciest in the world.
As a comparison, consider this: across the United States, the median rent is $959 per month. In Manhattan, however, the average is more than triple that number at $3,109 per month.
So, what makes New York so special, and why Manhattan in particular? Well, for starters, it’s small, very small. In fact, it only covers 23.7 square miles and is the most densely populated area in NYC. It also has limited parking, which is nearly as rare as unicorns in New York, so people are willing to pay a pretty penny for that convenience. Plus, just about everything is expensive here, including construction costs and property taxes. Landlords and sellers charge a lot for Manhattan real estate to offset these expenses – and because they can.
Many celebrities call Manhattan home. As you can imagine, certain neighborhoods (and even blocks or buildings) attract more A-listers than others. If you want to live next door, you’ll have to pay up. Considering it?
After months of internal squabbling and doubts, House Republicans passed their tax proposal on Thursday, a major step forward for a House GOP that has thus far been unable to deliver on any major piece of President Donald Trump’s agenda.
The House passed the bill 227-205, with 13 Republicans joining every Democrat in opposing the measure, which would lower individual tax brackets, dramatically cut the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 20 percent, and nearly double the standard deduction while eliminating a slew of smaller write-offs.
But even as Republicans celebrated the passage of their tax plan, the public perception of the bill is less than stellar. According to the most recent polling, most Americans believe they won’t see a tax cut from the GOP tax plan. In fact, only about 25 percent of Republicans believe they will pay less as a result of the measure, while 47 percent of Americans believe Trump will pay less.
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Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) led Republicans in passing their tax plan Thursday.
George Soros, the billionaire hedge fund manager and a major Democratic donor, has given $18 billion to his Open Society Foundations, one of the largest transfers of wealth ever made by a private donor to a single foundation.
The gift, made quietly over the past several years but disclosed only on Tuesday, has transformed Open Society into the second-biggest philanthropic organization in the United States, behind the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It will also place Mr. Soros, a lightning rod for conservative critics, squarely in the middle of the social and political debates convulsing the country.
Founded by Mr. Soros more than 30 years ago, Open Society promotes democracy and human rights in more than 120 countries. In recent years, the organization has increased its attention on the United States, investing in programs to protect gays and lesbians and reduce abuses by the police.
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George Soros at the offices of the Open Society Foundations in New York in 2014.Credit Joshua Bright for The New York Times
In a hot, dry field near a place called Humpty Doo in Australia’s Northern Territory, scientists are racing to begin an experiment that could determine the future of the world’s most popular fruit, the lowly banana.
Dodging the occasional crocodile, researchers will soon place into the soil thousands of small plants that they hope will produce standard Cavendish bananas — the nicely curved, yellow variety representing 99 percent of all bananas sold in the United States. But in this case, the plants have been modified with genes from a different banana variety.
An insidious fungus known as fusarium wilt has wiped out tens of thousands of acres of Cavendish plantations in Australia and Southeast Asia over the past decade. And the fungus recently gained a foothold in Africa and the Middle East, hitching a ride on the boots of workers helping to establish new plantations. Scientists say Latin America, the source of virtually all the bananas eaten in the United States, is next.
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The Australian lab of James Dale is trying to develop more-nutritious and disease-resistant bananas. (Mike Kuhn/Queensland University of Technology) (Photographer: Mike Kuhn/Queensland University of Technology)
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Shuttle Port Canaveral offers convenient shuttles and transportation from the Orlando area to the Space Coast of Florida, including Port Canaveral and Cocoa Beach.
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