Articles About Tax Credits

President Obama recently took a short stroll from the White House and through Lafayette Park to give a speech in what might be termed enemy territory – the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The subject was jobs and what the Chamber can do to jump start hiring by the companies that form its membership.  Noting that […]

President Barack Obama recently visited Penn State University to introduce his Better Buildings Initiative, an incentive program intended to stimulate energy-efficient retrofits to existing commercial buildings.  The initiative is also designed to create jobs in the construction and manufacturing industries. Despite the long-term economic benefits of energy efficiency, many building owners often run into difficulty […]

Mortgage rates have hit a record low.  According to Freddie Mac, rates for 30-year mortgages fell to 4.27 percent from 4.32 percent in just one week.  At the same time, safe-haven government debt is more appealing to investors than ever, according to a Freddie Mac survey. The low rates may be a sign that housing […]

President Barack Obama is well aware that private sector investment creates the majority of sustainable jobs, even though it goes against human nature to invest during hard economic times.  Federal stimulus money has saved/created between 600,000 and 1,500,000 jobs, according to the Congressional Budget Office – a faction of the 7,500,000 million jobs lost.  Lest […]

The credit crunch and sluggish return-on-investment environment are impacting green commercial real estate development – and not in a good way.  Even on projects where dirt actually gets moved, it will be more difficult to incorporate sustainable design principles as companies become more cost conscious.  The greening of the workplace should pick up once again […]

So what to make of President-Elect Obama’s progressive economic policies?  What his critics miss are some of the most intriguing features of his plan — providing companies with tax credits for hiring new employees; raising the investment expensing limit for small businesses; eliminating the capital gains rate for investing in small businesses; and the massive […]