​The Property Brothers Reveal That Secret Something That Gives a Home Charm

Drew and Jonathan Scott know plenty about how to give a home that extra something that helps it stand out. And in the latest episode of their HGTV show "Property Brothers: Forever Home," they have a lot to work with!
In the episode titled "Keep the Charm, Not the Layout," married couple Kate and Gavin already love their Las Vegas home, but when they make plans for Kate’s mother to move into the extra bedroom, they realize that the house needs a lot of updates. Their place is already filled with two kids and plenty of dogs, but now that they’re including one more family member, they need to make sure the house is both comfortable and functional. And if possible, they’d like it to look good, too.
The brothers have a big budget: $110,000 to update the living space, mudroom, and in-law Maryann’s space. Here's how the Scott brothers put that cash to good use—and the lessons we can all learn along the way.

RECESSION REASONS
Recessions tend to occur from sharp falls in auto sales, home construction, commercial construction, and corporate investment in plant and equipment. It’s because purchases of these items can generally be timed, unlike services such as healthcare. Importantly, unlike housing, which skyrocketed early in the last decade to crash in 2007, precipitating a recession, these four sectors have been weak for some time now. This suggests a mild recession when it comes.
TARIFF TRAVAILS
Prior to slapping tariffs on China, US tariff revenues were $3 billion/month. They’re now $7 billion/month; an increase of around $50 billion/year or 0.25% of GDP. Thus, GDP has been reduced by at least this much, and realistically much more because some purchases are simply not made and we’re importing from other nations at prices higher than before the imposition of tariffs. Rearranging supply chains is very expensive.
MORE MONEY
When raising the minimum wage two things are relevant. First, what percentage of impacted firms are exporters? They are much less able to raise prices to offset the increase as they compete in world markets. Second, what percentage of the median wage is the new minimum? The higher it is, the more the unemployment rate rises. At $15/hour, the minimum wage would be almost 70% of the median; troublingly high.
AUTOMOTIVE ACTIVITY
In 2018, automakers sold 81.8 million vehicles and 4.2 million light commercial vehicles, down 400,000 from 2017, the best year ever. 2019 looks to be slightly weaker than 2018. The biggest market is China, with sales of 28.1 million vehicles. The US is a distant second at 17.3, followed by Japan at 5.2, India at 3.9, and Germany at 3.7. Collectively these five nations account for 67.7% of all sales.
EUROPEAN ECONOMIES 
One reason Europe grows slower than the US is because it’s a goods producing powerhouse. That’s because EU rules allow goods to cross borders more easily than services. Unfortunately for Europe, service companies (like Google and Microsoft) are not only hugely valuable but are also more productive and pay better. Worse, the splintered eurozone has three times as many service firms as the US, thus few enjoy economies of scale.
SOPHISTICATED SCAMMERS
On social media, 91% of survey respondents said they initially failed to recognize fraudulent advertisements as scams and proceeded to engage and 53% eventually lost money. On websites, things were slightly better; the percentages were 81% and 50% respectively. However, via voicemail, only 42% engaged and just 13% lost money, and for phone calls the results were still better at 39% and 11%. I’m reconnecting my land line!