Aaron Nathans

The Washington Post highlights AIER’s rankings of best college towns and best post-college destinations in a prominent article this week. Author Jeffrey Selingo, former editor of The Chronicle of Higher Education, writes about the factors that go into a student’s decision about where to go to college, and finds that the location matters a lot.

Uber may have changed the way people look at taxi services, but as a story in yesterday’s New York Times shows, it is not immune from the same calls for regulation that another “sharing economy” service, Airbnb, has faced in recent years.

The economy appears to be picking up more momentum, as consumer sentiment saw a marked gain amid a week of data releases that underscore renewed economic growth. Today, the University of Michigan released its survey that showed the overall consumer sentiment index at 96.1, up from 90.7 in May. Bob Hughes, senior research fellow at…

Here’s an interesting piece in The New York Times about how Americans are increasingly putting the dream of home ownership aside and renting their homes.

Both The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal weighed in this morning with pieces about preparations being made in case the Supreme Court strikes down Afffordable Care Act subsidies in states that have not established their own insurance marketplaces. If they lose their subsidies, millions of Americans are expected to discontinue their policies,…

As the economy gathers strength, Americans are seeing higher prices at restaurants and drinking establishments. Over the last 12 months, prices of food away from home – restaurants — have increased by 3 percent, while prices for food purchased at the grocery store have increased by a more modest 0.6 percent, according to an review…

Knowledge at Wharton recently published some interesting research about consumer behavior surrounding retention campaigns. The conclusion was counterintuitive: By offering rewards to large numbers of current customers, a cell phone company actually drove more customers away than those who didn’t get offered the rewards

The Wall Street Journal reported a bright outlook for consumer spending in the months ahead. They could have read it here first: Back in April, the American Institute for Economic Research projected that a consumer spending rebound was on its way.

In the June edition of Business Conditions Monthly, the American Institute for Economic Research’s bird’s-eye view of the economy, we see a falling probability of recession.

It’s been a good week for good signs about the economy, and this morning offered more encouragement, as consumers showed resurgent buying activity. The Commerce Department reported a 1.2 percent increase in retail sales in May, along with upward revisions for the two prior months.