Skip Navigation
Megan McArdle

Megan McArdle - Megan McArdle is a senior editor for The Atlantic who writes about business and economics. She has worked at three start-ups, a consulting firm, an investment bank, a disaster recovery firm at Ground Zero, and The Economist. More

Megan was born and raised on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and yes, she does enjoy her lattes, as well as the occasional extra-dry skim-milk cappuccino. Her checkered work history includes three start-ups, four years as a technology project manager for a boutique consulting firm, a summer as an associate at an investment bank, and a year spent as sort of an executive copy girl for one of the disaster-recovery firms at Ground Zero … all before the age of 30.

While working at Ground Zero, Megan started Live From the WTC, a blog focused on economics, business, and cooking. She may or may not have been the first major economics blogger, depending on whether we are allowed to throw outlying variables such as Brad Delong out of the set. From there it was but a few steps down the slippery slope to freelance journalism. She has worked in various capacities for The Economist, where she wrote about economics and oversaw the founding of Free Exchange, the magazine's economics blog. She has also maintained her own blog, Asymmetrical Information, which moved to The Atlantic, along with its owner, in August 2007.

Megan holds a bachelor's degree in English literature from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago. After a lifetime as a New Yorker, she now resides in northwest Washington, D.C., where she is still trying to figure out what one does with an apartment larger than 400 square feet.
« Previous McArdle | Next McArdle » Email Email Print Print

Good News/Bad News on Housing

By Megan McArdle

Jun 2 2009, 3:43 PM ET Comment

First, the good news:  the latest pending home sales figures for were much, much higher than anyone expected, up a practically healthy looking 3.2% from last year.

Now the bad news:  pending home sales are not done deals.  The buyers often still have to secure a mortgage.  And the mortgage market kind of blew up last week. 

Even if the current sales go through, a 500 basis point increase in the interest rate is going to put a meaningful crimp in buyer demand.  But it's probable that not all of the sales will go through:  some buyers won't have locked in a rate, and if the Field Check Blog is correct, others may not be able to get their loan processed in time to close.  Joe Weisenthal has more.


Presented by

More at The Atlantic

Study of the Day: How We Really Read Restaurant Menus How We Read Restaurant Menus
'Plug In Better': A Manifesto Plug In Better
10 of the Greatest Kisses in Literature The Greatest Kisses in Literature
In Memphis Classrooms, the Ghost of Segregation Lingers On In Memphis Classrooms, the Ghost of Segregation Lingers On
The 10 Best and 10 Worst States for High-Tech Business The 10 Best States for High-Tech Business

Join the Discussion

After you comment, click Post. If you’re not already logged in you will be asked to log in or register.
blog comments powered by Disqus
Special Report
The Civil War National Portrait Gallery The Civil War
President Obama reflects on what Lincoln means to him and to America, in an introduction to our special issue. Read more ›

Correspondents

View All Correspondents

The Biggest Story in Photos

Valentine's Day 2012

Feb 14, 2012

Subscribe Now

SAVE 59%! 10 issues JUST $2.45 PER COPY

Facebook

Newsletters

Sign up to receive our free newsletters

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

Megan McArdle
from the Magazine

Why Companies Fail

GM’s stock price has sunk by a third since its IPO. Why is corporate turnaround so difficult…

The Graduates

Busted banking careers, crashed consultants, and shrunken incomes: the author attends her 10-year…

Romney’s Business

The Republican contender touts his business experience—but does it really matter?