The Political Page, T+276 -- October 24, 2017

Lost decade: wow, wow, wow. Jim Cramer, commenting on the stock market surge, says "it was a lost decade." I've talked about that for many years, even have a tag, "lost decade." Actually two lost decades -- the first under Bush II; the second under Obama. 

Death by a thousand cuts: Iowa halts effort to overhaul ObamaCare. The decision, after federal officials laid out tough conditions for its approval, signals limits to states' efforts to alter parts of the health law.

Iowa had applied for federal permission to move forward under a provision of the ACA that allows states to waive certain parts of the law. Though the Trump administration initially signaled it welcomed such initiatives, states have recently gotten mixed results for their applications. The foundering of Iowa’s much-watched effort will likely be seen as another caution flag as other states consider their own future proposals.

Separately, federal officials said a Massachusetts waiver application was incomplete and couldn’t be approved fast enough.

Iowa officials had said they wanted to repair an ACA exchange that is down to just one insurer next year, Medica. The company is increasing average premiums by around 57%, due partly to the Trump administration’s cutoff of federal cost-sharing payments to insurers.

Iowa’s governor, Republican Kim Reynolds, faulted the 2010 health law for Iowa’s individual insurance market problems and the failure of the waiver application, and she called the ACA “unworkable.”

Sour grapes? More people think rending is a better deal than buying. Some 76% of millennials said rending is an affordable option, up more than 10 percentage points from a year ago.

The data from the Freddie Mac survey and another by the National Multifamily Housing Council suggest there isn’t likely to be a shift toward owning from renting among old and young alike, due to financial reasons and those of lifestyle and preference.

Landlords are likely to see this as welcome news that a widespread shift toward owning isn’t coming anytime soon.

The data also indicate the persistent shortage of homes for sale on the single-family side is depressing the appetite for homeownership.

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Working On Her Spanish