Paris / AFP The German and French central banks issued downbeat growth forecasts, as the EU Commission came under pressure to bring Paris in line over excessive deficits. The Bundesbank said the powerhouse German economy would expand by 1.7 percent this year, slowing to 1.4 percent in 2017. This was a downgrade of previous forecasts of 1.8 percent and …

  Bloomberg Every state or municipal government will eventually face the question of whether to raise taxes. Since the era of George H.W. Bush, officials answer increasingly “No.” “It’s politically hard to make a case for tax increases, and particularly at a time when people have less money in their pockets,” said Lucy Dadayan, a senior policy analyst with the …

  Bloomberg When shares of apartment owners fell this week on disappointing revenue projections in New York and San Francisco, it was bad news for the property companies and good news for renters. Well, some renters. Between April 2015 and April 2016, the pace of rent increases slowed in at least 90 percent of luxury ZIP codes in Atlanta, Los …