Why is the market share of adjustable-rate mortgages so low?

Over the past several years, U.S. homebuyers have increasingly favored fixed-rate mortgages over adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs). Indeed, ARMs have dropped to less than 10 percent of all residential mortgage originations, a near-record low. One might speculate that the decline in the ARM share has been driven by “one-off” factors relating to the financial crisis. However, a statistical analysis suggests that recent trends can largely be explained by the same factors that have historically shaped mortgage choice—most notably, the term structure of interest rates and its effects on the relative price of different types of mortgages. Supply-side factors, in particular a rise in the share of mortgages eligible to be securitized by the housing government-sponsored enterprises, also play a role in the low current ARM share.Adjustable rate mortgages ; Households - Economic aspects ; Economic surveys ; Interest rates ; Mortgages

Montpelier: The Home of General Henry Knox

The article is a history of the origin, construction, deterioration and loss of the mansion Montpelier build by General Henry Knox

The Brief Career of Eliza Poe

Review of The Brief Career of Eliza Poe by Geddith Smit

Orono: The Great Sachem

This article is a summary of the known facts of the life of Sachem Orono

Walter G. Morrill: The Fighting Colonel of the Twentieth Maine

An article on Walter G. Morrill\u27s role in the Civil War by James B. Vickery published in the University of Maine Studies, Second Series, No. 88, A Handful of Spice: A Miscellany of Maine Literature and History, edited by Richard S. Sprague, 1968

Unemployment and Skills in Australia

In Australia, as in many other countries, labour-market groups with higher skill levels generally enjoy lower unemployment rates. This paper investigates why this might be the case, whether this is a recent phenomenon, and whether declining demand for unskilled labour, perhaps coupled with wage inflexibility, is an important explanation for the observed increase in the Australian unemployment rate over the past three decades. We find that relative demand shifts towards skilled labour are not an important determinant of the increase in overall unemployment. The shift in demand towards skilled labour has been matched by an equivalent shift in labour supply, leaving the structure of relative unemployment rates across skill groups fairly stable. Unemployment of both skilled and unskilled labour has increased, but this appears to be for reasons unrelated to relative demand shifts across skill groups. We also discuss possible reasons for the pervasively higher unemployment rates of less-skilled workers, drawing on data on individuals from the Survey of Employment and Unemployment Patterns (SEUP). We find that the high unskilled unemployment rate is associated with a higher exit probability from employment relative to skilled workers (a high ‘separation rate’), and a lower probability of finding employment from non-employment (a low ‘matching rate’).unemployment; skills

List of Town Registers

List of Town Registers in the state of Main

Wind And Wave Loads On A Tension Leg Platform: Theory And Experiment

This very low natural frequencies of compliant offshore structures have raised the concern about the significance of the dynamic action of wind in the response of such platforms. In this thesis the effect of wind loads on the response of a Tension Leg Platform is examined in detail.;The study examines the importance of wind loads through the use of two different numerical models and through an experimental study carried out in a wind-wave flume, where a dynamic model of a Tension Leg Platform was subjected to the action of properly scaled random wind and wave loads. The numerical models include a full diffraction analysis and the effect of second-order, non-linear wave drift forces. The study is the first, where a physical model of a Tension Leg Platform has been tested in a wind-wave facility, and is believed to be the first numerical study where the modeling of wind forces is accompanied by a complete model of the wave forces.;The agreement between the results obtained from the numerical simulations and the experiments was good, indicating that the numerical models used in this thesis can adequately predict the response of a Tension Leg Platform to the combined action of wind and wave loads.;The effect of the wind on the surge response of the platform was found to be strongly dependent on the length of the fetch of water over which the wind had been blowing and the duration of the wind storm. In cases where the fetch is short or the storm duration is short, so that large waves cannot develop, it was found that the wind dominated the surge response behaviour of the platform. In the cases where large waves were allowed to develop, the response was not governed by the action of the wind, but the dynamic action of the wind did contribute to the total surge response. In general, the wind induced surge response and the second-order wave induced surge response were found to be of similar importance.;The yaw response of the platform was found to be dominated by the action of wind

Microinsurance : a case study of the Indian rainfall index insurance market

Rainfall index insurance provides a payout based on measured local rainfall during key phases of the agricultural season, and in principle can help rural households diversify a key source of idiosyncratic risk. This paper describes basic features of rainfall insurance contracts offered in India since 2003, and documents stylized facts about market demand and the distribution of payouts. The authors summarize the results of previous research on this market, which provides evidence that price, liquidity constraints, and trust all present significant barriers to increased take-up. They also discuss potential future prospects for rainfall insurance and other index insurance products.Climate Change Economics,Insurance Law,Debt Markets,Financial Literacy,Insurance&Risk Mitigation