The Washington Post - USA (2022-03-27)

AMANDA ANDRADE-RHOADES FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

THE WEEK
As of Friday at 5 p.m. ○

DOW 34,861.24

106.31, 0.3% ○

NASDAQ 14,169.30

275.46, 2.0% ○

S&P 500 4,543.06

79.94, 1.8% ○

GOLD $1,959.80

$25.90, 1.3% ○

CRUDE OIL $113.90

$9.20, 8.8% ○

10-YEAR TREASURY YIELD 2.49%

1 5.6% change

CURRENCIES

$1=122.15 Y EN, 0.91 EUROS

COLOR OF MONEY

With three weeks left in the 2022 tax-filing season,

here’s why the refund you’re expecting may be late. G3

FUTURE OF WORK

Smart glasses, holograms and A.I.-equipped robots

could change our jobs soon, Qualcomm’s CEO says. G4

BY ANDREW VAN DAM,

YOUJIN SHIN

AND ALYSSA FOWERS

The United States, Europe and

their allies rely on Russia for

some oil and gas, and a few

specialized materials. But they

also supply Russia with much of

its machinery, vehicles, technol-

ogy and equipment that help

Russia’s economy run.

That’s why sanctions can be so

effective.

Without global trade, Russian

factories would sit idle, business-

es would shutter and shelves

would sit bare. Even blocking

some of those goods from coun-

tries that have already imposed

sanctions or restrictions could

dismember whole sectors in Rus-

sia. Some Russian companies

that rely on imported compo-

nents are already reeling — pro-

duction lines at the automaker

Lada reportedly went idle earlier

this month.

Meanwhile, countries that usu-

ally sell goods to Russia have a lot

less to lose when trade is cut off.

SEE SANCTIONS ON G3

How Russia will feel

the sting of sanctions

Global trade cutoff threatens to idle its factories,

shutter its businesses and leave its shelves bare

BY ABHA BHATTARAI

Leslie Morgan is doing every-
thing she can to save money: She
quit smoking, cut back on grocer-
ies and is rationing hot showers
so she can keep her water heater
off for days at a time.
But it hasn’t been enough, she
says. Rent, food and utilities are
all becoming more expensive,
making it tough for the retired
teacher to make ends meet on
roughly $3,000 a month in pen-
sion and Social Security pay-
ments.
“Just surviving day to day has
become a big concern of mine —
because, how in the world?” said
Morgan, 65, who lives in
Asheville, N.C. “Yes, I can afford
what I’m doing right now, but I’m
starting to panic. I’m starting to
think, ‘How am I going to keep
paying for everything?’ ”
Rising prices are squeezing
household budgets around the
country and putting additional
strain on its 56 million residents
age 65 and up, many of whom rely
on fixed incomes and limited sav-
SEE INFLATION ON G2

As inflation bites, fixed-income retirees cut back

Rapidly rising prices are squeezing many of the 56 million Americans who are 65 or older

JACOB BIBA FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

“Just surviving day to day has become a big concern of mine — because, how in the world?” said

Leslie Morgan, 65, a retired teacher, at her home in Asheville, N.C. “... I’m starting to panic.”

BY TRACY JAN

W

hat is a community worth? T he answer, all too often, depends on race. ¶ Kym and

Steve Taylor own a six-bedroom home set on four acres in Maryland’s Prince

George’s County, one of the wealthiest majority-Black counties in the nation.

Their nearly 10,000-square-foot house boasts nine bathrooms. A wine cellar. A

custom-designed floating spiral staircase. A dream home they’d purchased for $1.45 million in

2015. ¶ So the couple were shocked when their home appraised for $1.15 million in 2021 at the
      height of the real estate market — half a million less than what they were expecting and
      $300, 000 less than what they had paid six years earlier. ¶ The Taylors, owners of a home
      health-care agency, had been counting on using the equity in their home as collateral to buy
      another company. But the lower appraisal meant they had to tap into a separate line of credit
      to complete the deal, eroding emergency funds set aside to expand their business. ¶ Their
      experience is common. Homes in Black neighborhoods are valued at 23 percent less, on
      average, than those in comparable White neighborhoods — despite having similar neighbor-
      hood and property characteristics and amenities, according to a Brookings Institution report.^
      ¶ The devaluation of Black communities adds up to about $156 billion in lost equity — money

that could have been invested in education and entrepreneurship, said Andre Perry, a senior

fellow at Brookings and author of “Know Your Price: Valuing Black Lives and Property in

America’s Black Cities.” ¶ “This is the money that can be used to lift yourself up that proverbial

economic ladder,” said Perry, who also lives in Prince George’s County. “That is what’s being

extracted from our communities.” SEE APPRAISAL BIAS ON G5

Black wealth

undercut by

appraisal bias

Even the most affluent minority communities

are routinely undervalued, a cascading harm

KLMNO

BusineSS

SUNDAY, MARCH 27 , 2022. SECTION G AX FN FS LF PW DC BD PG AA FD HO MN MS SM

Kym Taylor’s Bowie, Md., home was appraised last year at

$300,000 less than what she and her husband had paid in 2015.