U.S. Economic News
July 24, 2018
U.S. Economic Indicators
The FHFA House Price Index shows that U.S. house prices rose 0.2% in May and were up 6.4% from the same period last year. House prices rose on a monthly basis in seven of nine census divisions, with the largest gains coming in the East South Central division. Report
U.S. News
The Wall Street Journal reports that escalating trade tensions with China threaten to harm U.S. crude oil exports. China was the second-largest consumer of U.S. crude oil exports behind Canada in 2017, though U.S. imports only make up 3% of Chinese imports, meaning that U.S. exporters are likely to suffer more than Chinese consumers if China were to place tariffs on U.S. crude oil. WSJ
Josh Zumbrun of the Wall Street Journal writes that a new IMF report concludes that the U.S. is the largest driver of global current account imbalances and that it continues to adopt policies that are likely to increase imbalances in years to come. The IMF report points to policies that have worsened government deficits, such as tax cuts and increased federal spending, that are likely to worsen the U.S. current account deficit and could pose a threat to the global economy. WSJ