Bits Bucket For November 11, 2009
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The Housing Bubble
Examining the home price boom and its effect on owners, lenders, regulators, realtors and the economy as a whole.
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Name:Ben Jones
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Looks like with this G 20 plan to extend stimulus for next year, carry over trade in currencies and massive US stimulus with low USD will keep taking the Dow and emerging markets to new heights. What a shame for politicians and bankers as when this whole thing unwinds, it will fall with a big noise.
“What a shame for politicians and bankers as when this whole thing unwinds, it will fall with a big noise.”
The shame and the noise of the unwind won’t be limited to just politicians and bankers.
Something tells me the connected politicians and bankers will be just fine. It’s the rest of us that will wake up in a Soho alley with our pants around our ankles. The elites will be sunning themselves in The Caymans.
“wake up in a Soho alley”
Colorful. Rough night? It’ll take more than *Rancher’s coffee to fix ‘that’ huh?
Anyway, here we go again. Another day, another “First!” prediction of a Double Dip Recession/Depression/Financial End Times all but guaranteed!
I’ll see what I can find in the liquor cabinet..
All is not well for the OC housewives:
http://mortgage.freedomblogging.com/2009/11/11/foreclosure-notices-hit-record-8800/21021/
“That cheap stuff I drank last night sure tore my a$$ up!”
Um, that wasn’t caused by what you drank - that was your friendly neighborhood bankers and politicians at work while you slept.
Sammy!
( And yes, I believe you’re right! ) Thanks for at least representin’ for Da’ Bankerz in da’ Hood!
Remember, under the HBB Code of Conduct ( to… ‘which’ we must ALL adhere! ) only MegaBanks can be evil. Everyone else feeding at the money trough is either the victim of a Ponzi, shill, FB or GF.
I believe it’s under Article 9.
No kidding. The plan is working so well that the Government should just give money to the banks all of the time and make that a permanent part of our economic system. Everybody wins!
Isn’t this arrangement pretty much already in place?
All is fixed this morning. Stock markets are rallying on great news from China and Japan. The G20 will continue to pump more and more stimulus into the world’s economy. You can bet Bernanke will announce soon that the MBS buying program will continue unabated.
UPS has announced they expect volumes to rise in 2010 AND they will be raising prices. I guess they have the inside contract for sending out unemployment checks and Golem Sacks’ bonuses. Let’s all celebrate $80 oil and a dying dollar.
Eddie is right. It’s all good. Until it ain’t. And this is starting to feel oh so 2006 again. Keep your hands and feet in the car. The ride is going to be a mother.
I’m a little confused by the reactions here. For year I have heard the left talk about govt not doing enough to “help ordinary people”. So now the govt is handing out $8000 checks to anyone with a pulse to buy a house and have $4500 checks to anyone with a pulse to buy a car.
Isn’t this what you have all wanted all along?
Eddie, just go blow yourself. For f— sake, nobody cares about you stupid little misunderstandings.
No Eddie, that’s not what we wanted.
The left wants cheaper and affordable housing for the masses.
The 8000 pays the bankers and the broker fees.
Exactly pressboardbox. That’s not what we wanted.
Jobs that pay a living wage is what is wanted. You know, so people can have REAL income (as opposed to the house ATM and casino stock market) and therefore continue to power the 75% consumer driven economic engine that is America.
Not to mention being able to pay for their own health care, education and retirement.
Less socialism for corporations would also be nice.
Be this one posts.
And why do you want a big house when a mobile home is a real affordable way to live?
But we wont support that idea.
In today’s housing market you may buy a house with 3.5 pct down and insure the loan with another 2 pct (or roll it into the principal if you like); plus, the treasury gives you an 8,000 check to fund the deal and the fed buys the loan with money created out of thin air. It’s Ponzi finance all over again.
The audacity of same.
Hello everyone!
Getting colder here in Kandahar.
Listening to “Be Alright” by Zapp…..
Still too many houses on the market, good news for me!
http://money.cnn.com/2009/11/10/news/economy/too.many.houses.fortune/index.htm
That’s a great article about the inventory glut. After citing Census figures that indicate 1 in 7 houses are vacant, this:
But rental apartments are emptying out at a record clip as well, as a spike in the jobless rate and a decade of subpar wage growth have sent many Americans back home to live with Mom and Dad.
I’m starting to see more foreclosures in my area. This Saturday, I’m going to an Open House on a foreclosure that’s going to auction. I’m hearing about more jingle mailers, contractors now charging 50% their 2006 rates. Tax credits for house buyers may work in the short term, but the rest of the story says - don’t hold your breath waiting for a stellar “recovery”.
I don’t know when Wall STreet and Washington realize
It’s about jobs and wages.
What they are doing now is akin to using duct tape to fix a dam.
It’s also very much about truckloads of zero cost taxpayer-supplied dollars being thrown into the equity markets by bailed out financial institutions.
Not the first time in history this has happened. Japan did something similar for the last 20 years. As of today their equity markets are down 60% from the inflated highs of years ago.
However, Japan was an educated export-driven nation of savers with a tiny military budget and somewhat homogenous society. No such “luck” for us.
For a good analysis of the cheap dollar fueling an expensive U.S. stock market, read this:
http://tinyurl.com/ygq8y3t
Packman, 8:30:46
That was a really, really Really good post. Thank you.
I don’t know when Wall STreet and Washington realize
It’s about jobs and wages.
I disagree to some extent. If it were only about jobs and wages, then stimulus would actually work, even in the long run. We wouldn’t have this recession because we had tremendously low unemployment before the recession started. Something had to trigger the recession, and the loss of jobs wasn’t it.
No - what it’s really all about is allocation of resources in the right places. The problem with the housing bubble was that there was a tremendous allocation of resources - including jobs - in the wrong place; specifically tremendous overbuild of housing. The subsequent loss of jobs and wages was a symptom of that, not the cause.
Same for the dot com bubble, and pretty much every other bubble. They’re problems because resources are overallocated in a given sector of the economy, and the resulting pain is (ideally) the process of a correct balancing of the resources.
I say “ideally” because government stimulus’ short-circuit this correction, by forcing money into areas that otherwise don’t need it as much, and therefore taking money away from areas that do. Government stimulus can actually work, but only if its put into areas where the demand actually is. The problem is that’s almost impossible for government to do right, and also they have to take their cut.
I agree jobs were not the cause of the collapse
I was talking about preventing deflation.
Pumping up Megabank inc has resulted in banks and CEO”s hoarding cash, driving up commodities and stock prices despite low demand, ie the misallocation of resources you spoke of. There is no tangible benefit to the country as a whole.
If the goal is to improve the economy and get people spending again it’s about jobs.
Avoiding the arguement of stimulus vs let the chips fall where they may.
A better way to save the system would be
1. Offer huge tax incentives for home solar installations, distributive cogeneration (putting electricity generation at the site of use and using the waste heat to heat the building more than doubles energy efficiency), insullating the house,
2. Tax incentives for improving internet system
3. Tax incentives for improving electrical transmission
4. Research grants
5. Mass transit
They are doing some of this but I would have taken most of the TARP and used it for stimulating jobs. I would have taken much of the money used for unemployment and used it in this way.
These things will put people to work, laid off construction workers electricians,scientists, potentially bank workers and finance people.
It would keep US dollars at home there by stimulating consumption here. A dollar less spent on fuel is a dollar more you can spend on going out to eat.
It would improve our infrastructure for decades.
Instead we have predominantly made Wall Street CEO’s and traders rich and driven up fuel costs there by decreasing money available to spend on consumption. We have provided no tangible benefit to our country if anything we have hollowed out our foundation even more.
Then they would have given every American $2500 to pay off their credit cards, then the resultant spending would have been able to create a demand which creates jobs….
Lets see 100 million CC x 2500 equals 250 billion of useful stimulus
———————————————-
If the goal is to improve the economy and get people spending again it’s about jobs.
While I agree with most of your post packman, you are misinformed as to unemployment. It was not low, but only reported as such.
The U6 fluctuated just below 10% continuously after the dot bomb crash and the U3 was manipulated.
Also, it’s not only about jobs, but wages. What eventually has to happen to a 75% consumer driven economy when wages stagnate but prices keep rising?
Now combine that with everything else you posted.
+1
What they are doing now is akin to using duct tape to fix a dam.
If the women don’t find you
handsomesolvent, they should at least find you handy.Sounds like there will be plenty of houses for Stpn2me to choose from once he is safely back from Afghanistan — just like there were in the early- to mid-1990s
If houses are vacant and apartments are emptying out, where is everybody going? Home to mom and shacking up, I guess.
In another lifetime my wife and I had a 6 bedroom, 3 bathroom house. It was just the two of us. We thought of having kids and then decided not to. We downsized to a Manhattan studio apartment. That old house could have lived 8 people very comfortably. Look at all of the capacity that was built from 2000 - 2008. They weren’t putting up 1,200 square foot houses.
I would like to see a study that shows the number of bedrooms and bathrooms that now exist per citizen. Let’s see what it was in 1950, 1970, 1990 and today. I would bet that we would see just how much further this trend can go.
“I would like to see a study that shows the number of bedrooms and bathrooms that now exist per citizen.”
That would be a great way to informally quantify how much of the national US wealth has been pored down the real estate rat hole over the past half-century.
You would also want to split out the number of bedrooms and bathrooms in homes that are currently vacant (unused) from those which are occupied. I bet you would find there are plenty of beds and baths that are currently crumbling into decrepitude, thanks to lack of an owner-occupant to maintain the home in which they are located.
When my Russian teacher spoke to our class about American housing shortly after she arrived “off the boat” (early-1980s), she told us there was no shortage of housing in the US compared to the problem in the Soviet Union. Rather, she described the problem as one of maintenance.
Hint: 19 million vacant homes (sans owner-occupants) poses the mother of all maintenance problems. Our national housing policy is encouraging the construction of homes to be marketed at government- (taxpayer-) inflated prices at which many of the homes will never sell. Many homes will sit empty until they crumble into dust.
Why is it again that our government leaders want to keep housing priced at unaffordable levels? Or was it that they want to make housing affordable? Me confused…
I grew up in about a 1300 sqft 2 fam house with 2 brothers, but we had a full unfinished basement which was our playroom. Plus a yard. When i look back its amazing how little time we spent in the house on nice days. baseball, riding bikes, pools, we didn’t all just plop down and watch tv after school
We also had the biggest basement on the street and kids always came over on the bad days, the other SFRanches had a garage taking up at least 1/2 the basement and laundry.
Why is it again that our government leaders want to keep housing priced at unaffordable levels?
C’mon bear, you know the answer to that. If housing drops in value, then the bankers — and Fonie and Fraudie — will have to revalue their “assets”, which means they will find they are totally insolvent, and we’ll have another bank run a la Lehman. And the people who actually live in those houses? They don’t exist.
Think of all of the drones around us that truly believe, as if it were a religious edict, that high house prices are great for our economy. Try to tell them otherwise and just watch the glassy looks.
Why is it again that our government leaders want to keep housing priced at unaffordable levels?
I’m pretty sure I know the answer to this one - Actually, I’m sure we all know it, but I’m going to articulate it anyway.
It’s because the leaders believe that most of the people who vote - owners, mortgagees or lookers - are still possessed of the notion that housing is a path to personal wealth.
The idea that a house should just be an affordable place to live has yet to sink into the collective consciousness.
It would be humorous if it weren’t so frustrating - one hand of the gov propping up prices while the other hand attempts to subsidize “affordable” housing.
An interesting stat would be the sqft per person from 1950 to present.
When I was growing up we had about 130 square feet per person. My wife and I later had about 1,700 square feet per person. We are back down to 250 square feet per person. The place where I had 1,700 square feet per person was easily my least favorite place to live.
Bigger houses are kinda spooky. We have 1200 up and down and I’d prefer just a 1200 ranch but there was just nothing out there when we bought. If the old man croaks before I do, I’ll be gone in a minute. My first house was 500 sf and fit like a glove. Sure miss that place.
I am starting to understand a lot now. You all grew up dirt poor and despise anyone who has a couple of $$ to their name.
130 sq ft per person? How is that even possible? I cannot fathom that in the United States.
Eddie, we could fill a library with the things you can’t fathom.
OK enlighten me then oh great one. How does a family lives in 130 sq ft per person.
4 people in a 520 sq ft house? 5 in 650? That’s child abuse.
My last year of college I had an apartment that was 550 sq ft to myself and it was very cramped. Like I said, I now understand the mentality. No nice cars, no nice clothes, no nice houses/apartments. A lot of like the old timers who lived through the 30s and didn’t spend a dime for the rest of their lives, always living in fear of being poor again.
OK enlighten me then oh great one.
Nothing will enlighten you, Eddie. You’ve already determined it’s “child abuse”. You don’t need to hear anything else. Your conclusions are so stupid but at least you are a consistent fool.
My apartment is like 800sqft. I’d like bigger. Everything else has gone down in price, 42″ plat panel TVs are darn near $400. No reason houses shouldn’t as well! 1500sqft would be fine, if I had a large garage as well (Willing to build it).
I need to be enlightened too, NYC. The ONLY housing which is less than 600 sq ft are 1-bedroom apartments and Little-House-On-the-Prairie type cabins. You would be violating occupancy laws in the apartment, and the cabin thing is pretty rare.
My next door neighbors packed 5 kids into an 1100 sq-ft house. (not including basement) It was cramped, but I wouldn’t call it child abuse. Now, packing them all into the ‘73 Vega, on the other hand…
“…How does a family lives in 130 sq ft per person.”
Bunk beds in the aft cabin. Or sleeping bags on the deck if it’s a nice night.
I can’t believe that this is such a mystery. 130 square feet is 13 x 10. That is bigger than most bedrooms in NYC. But I didn’t grow up in NYC. I grew up in the Midwest. We had 9 people in an 1,100 or so square foot house. It had 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, a living room, dining room and kitchen upstairs. Four girls lived in one bedroom with 2 bunk beds. Three boys lived in another bedroom with a bed and a set of bunk beds. My parents lived in the third room. It wasn’t that big of deal and it wasn’t child abuse.
Hey NYCboy sounds like the Michael Jackson story…. but 11 people. i think some slept in the basement.
Thanks NYC boy. I think the biggest surprise was the 9 people. Now you’re out of the 600-sq ft range and into a crowded 3-bed house.
No clue sq footage per person when I was growing up, but we raised for kids with 149 per person. Now we have 297sq ft per person although son isn’t home much. But with the economy the way it is, he may be home full time after he finishes college. It’s the same house with only a change in how many live here now.
Actually, Eddie, a few of us grew up richer than God. It’s just that we despise pretentious little twits.
Eddie doesn’t understand the difference between class envy and people hating the fact that the system is gamed by insiders that steal from society. I would try to explain it to him but I think I have a better chance explaining economics to that French bulldog I passed on 6th Avenue today. You know the one I mean. He was eating his own feces.
Snort, boy.
Remember a couple of months ago when we all prayed for a troll to come out and play with us? We should be grateful that Eddie has so graciously consented–and is doing such a bully job of it!
Personally, I’m convinced he’s actually Oly having some fun with our preconceptions. The timing is just tooooo perfect….
OMG!!! Eddie’s eaten OLY!!!
Eddie’s eaten OLY!!!
And now his stomach is doing weird stuff like on Aliens…maybe “eaten” wasn’t quite the right word.
Holy crap, is that a geo-duck?
I miss Oly.
Make Eddie cough her back up Ben !
Another poster noted that Eddie seems an awful lot like Joey in CA. I think she has a point.
Happy Veterans Day, Stpn!
As usual Google makes no mention of the day on their home page. They had a Sesame Street puppet for a week straight. But Veterans Day? Never heard of it.
There’s a graphic of a little kid looking up to a soldier, saluting him.
That’s sweet. I really like it.
I was out near Ft. Drum yesterday and an F-16 flew overhead while I was out in the parking lot. I never get sick of that sound. An incredibly strong nostalgic pride welled up in my chest. I’m really proud of everyone out there working and sacrificing time w/their loved ones for us.
an F-16 flew overhead while I was out in the parking lot. I never get sick of that sound.
The company I command is right next to the flight line. They fly by about every 6 minutes taking off. The after burner is enough to shake the building I am in. Add to that assorted CH47’s and UH60’s…I am really sick of the sound!
I used to feel that way and I wish I still did. But knowing what, and who, is behind most wars has really changed my mind. Sending 18 year olds to die to protect the interests of corporations and Wall Street just doesn’t seem so great to me anymore. There are a lot of bad people in the world. At some point you realize that a lot of them are at the top of the American power structure.
I don’t think the Founding Fathers would have been so found of this huge standing military. I salute the sacrifice of our military but I cannot glorify it. Not any more. After 7 years it’s time to get out.
+1
I don’t think the Founding Fathers would have been so found of this huge standing military.
I disagree…
Defense of the nation was huge back then. Plus, the world wasnt as small to them as it is to us. Our threats are different as is our enemies. We always make the assumption that the oceans on both sides of us will protect and somehow make it so no one will ever attack us. Make no mistake, one of the reasons the U.S. hasnt been attacked is because of the size of our military and it’s reputation. Dont think another nation hasnt looked at us and thought what it would be like to rule the U.S. and it’s vast resources. The day you get complacent and think someone wont come in a take your toys is the day you lose them.
What I think they wouldnt be pleased with is the level of socialism we are taking on, our reliance on the Fed govt, and the repeated attempts of some to take away our right to arms.
one of the reasons the U.S. hasnt been attacked is because of the size of our military and it’s reputation.
Give me a break. How many enemies have we conjured up for ourselves? Who created the Mujahadin? Who supported Iraq in the Iran/Iraq war? We then got to be enemies with both countries. What the hell were we doing in Vietnam? We managed to prolong the Cold War for years and then pat ourselves on the back because “Reagan bankrupted the Soviets”. Pure bulls–t.
I appreciate your service. Your history is a little lacking.
“Dont think another nation hasnt looked at us and thought what it would be like to rule the U.S. and it’s vast resources.”
I heard somebody from Luxembourg saying that just the other day. Maybe we should stop trying to control other country’s resources. It seems to me that is a big part of our problems.
How many enemies have we conjured up for ourselves?
You will always have enemies as long as you arent for them…
How many people hate us just because we are americans? Alot of countries just want an americanized version of the craphole they are in..Just ask Mexico…
Maybe we should stop trying to control other country’s resources. It seems to me that is a big part of our problems.
I dont think so. Alot of it is just plain ole trade. We arent trying to control anything. That’s just liberal brainwashing. Iran has demostrated to us they are our enemy. I have no problem having friends on either side of them….
Right, we can always just a build a giant fence along -both- the Canadian and Mexico borders, mine our harbors and line the beaches from Bellingham, WA to Imperial Beach, CA w/ claymore mines.
BTW NYC…
You didnt comment on my choice of music today..
We arent trying to control anything. That’s just liberal brainwashing.
WTF? You have completely lost me.
Who installed the Shah into Iran? Do some research on the kind old Shah and the totalitarian social engineering that he attempted.
If you really believe we haven’t tried to control the oil resources of other nations then I just don’t really know that we have anything to discuss. I’ll let you get back to your worldview.
BTW NYC…
You didnt comment on my choice of music today..
Because I have no idea what that is.
line the beaches from Bellingham, WA to Imperial Beach, CA w/ claymore mines.
Of all the weapons I have seen and used, none scare me more than the claymore mine. Years ago, I was at a weapons range and some rangers set up a range with one. Before we could trip the wire, a coyote or something ran across in front of the weapon when we said “Clear down range”. There wasnt much left of the animal. I would almost rather hit an IED in a Ford Pinto than that heinous weapon…
Good choice step …this was just posted yesterday:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MR_FV18Dkos
Be Alright” by Zapp
Because I have no idea what that is.
WHATTT???? You dont know Zap???? Come on DJ and put on your Old School HAT!!!
Ah,
I am confusing you with my DJ friend on this blog..I apologize…
Man, I’m an idiot today…
I was out near Ft. Drum yesterday and an F-16 flew overhead while I was out in the parking lot. I never get sick of that sound. An incredibly strong nostalgic pride welled up in my chest. I’m really proud of everyone out there working and sacrificing time w/their loved ones for us.
Nothing like the sound of a machine that was designed with the sole purpose of killing people to give one warm fuzzies.
NYC boy, I try to separate our leader’s intent from the value of the ability and sacrifice of the men/women on the front lines. I don’t want that cavalierly applied either.
Stepn: I am really sick of the sound!
Grew up next to Pease, house under the flight path. After your mind figures out a way to ignore constant B52 noise that shakes the china jet sound brings nothing but a head rush. : )
“Sending 18 year olds to die to protect the interests of corporations and Wall Street just doesn’t seem so great to me anymore.”
Don’t forget the religious entities, the ugliest.
Who created the Mujahadin? ISLAM!
one of the reasons the U.S. hasnt been attacked is because of the size of our military and it’s reputation.
I think the Atlantic and Pacific ocean is the main reason.
I think the Atlantic and Pacific ocean is the main reason. You ignore the 1804 actions of the USA in sending Marines to the Mediterranean shores of Tripoli to deal with Muslim attacks there on US forces and enslavement of US citizens. The Atlantic and Pacific did not then and do not now protect us from such attacks.
tresho,
Correct, ever since there were “decks of wood and men of steel!” Then there’s that whole Wright Bros. thing.., and the submarine… and missles…
Excuse me, somewhere there’s a pile of sand missing a head!
designed with the sole purpose of killing people
No disrespect Colorado,
But the F-16 was designed to protect U.S. interests and citizens. I havent seen one go indiscriminetly killing people. What would you rather it be? Not be there? I bet you sleep better at night knowing your country is able to defend you, even if you dont acknowledge it. Contrast that with Afghanistan where the people dont know if the govt can protect them, which is the main job of the federal govt.
designed with the sole purpose of killing people
What Stpn2me said.
One could say about saws that they’re “designed with the sole purpose of cutting things up into pieces”. Technically yes that’s true. But the phraseology ignores the greater purpose.
Plus even technically the F-16 wasn’t designed for the sole purpose of killing people. It was designed for the sole purpose of taking out enemy fighter aircraft, which doesn’t necessarily include death. Its primary weapons are 20mm cannon and sidewinder heat seekers - neither of which will normally blow an enemy aircraft to bits, but rather disable it such that often the pilot can eject before it crashes. Obviously the pilot will often die as a result of the plane being shot, but as far as I know the USAF doesn’t intentionally shoot down pilots (e.g. follow up and shoot them while they’re parachuting down) (right Stpn2me?).
But the F-16 was designed to protect U.S. interests and citizens.
And what interests might those be? Something tell me that “those” interests are not in the best interest of the vast majority of Americans.
What other country in the history of the world conquered two enemies and then the next day sent their former enemies $1 trillion to rebuild?
As for this nonsense about protecting corporate interests, well I guess WW2 protected the interests of GM and Ford which both made bazillions in profits selling tanks to the military.
Can’t you people put aside your politics for one day and just honor the people who fought? Like the war or not, I don’t think it’s too much to ask that one one day a year you at least show some begrudging honor for veterans who had absolutely 0 say in what wars they were sent to.
Whatever happened to the leftist cry of we’re anti-war but support the soldiers?
Can’t you people put aside your politics for one day and just honor the people who fought?
I thought the ideal of America was about freedom of thought. I guess Eddie has redefined it.
“Why don’t you stupid pilgrims just think what we are thinking, for Christ’s sake.”
No disrespect Colorado
None taken.
But really, why do we need a military machine? Is it because of our foreign policy that causes other nations and people to hate us? Canada and Mexico aren’t all that worried about someone attacking them, so why are we? Might it have something to do with our behavior? Are we behaving too much like old Imperial Rome?
So I guess that’s a no then? You hate the soldiers as well as the wars. At least be honest about it. The greatness of this country is that even disgusting views like yours have protected and are protected by the very same veterans, you loathe. One of the great ironies around.
Hate the soldiers? WTF? You are a baboon. My point was that people should be able to think what they want. Or will you also welcome sharia law? And I don’t have to answer to any dumba$$ troll named Eddie on a blog.
Another sign of the greatest depression since they invented great depressions that will last for the next 100 years.
———
The venerable X — U.S. Steel — up 2.7%. Nucor is up 2.5%. Elsewhere, the S&P 500 steel subindex is up 2.6%, outpacing the increase in the S&P materials sector — where some of the steel stocks can be found. The materials sector is up 1%.
The jump in steel stocks follows data showing that China’s industrial production had risen 16.1% in the year to September, instead of by the 15.5% the market expected. Also Japanese machinery orders rose by 10.5% in September.
You can think what you want. You hate the military. You can think it. You can freely say it without fear of repercussions. That freedom has been brought to you by 240 years of veterans fighting and dying.
You’re the one that seems to have a problem with me paying respect to the veterans on VETERANS DAY. My point was that one day a year it would be nice if people like you would put aside their hatred of the military. I never suggested you stop thinking your perverse thoughts. Just suggested, in the spirit of the holiday, to keep your thoughts to yourself. Kind of like you don’t tell a groom on his wedding day that his soon to be wife is fat. Nobdoy’s saying you don’t have the right to think it or say it, but it’s tacky to say the least.
From that you jump to Sharia law. It would be laughable if it weren’t so sad.
Totally agree.
Agree with what? Eddie’s endless use of straw man tactics? Nowhere did anybody say Eddie couldn’t honor the soldiers. Nowhere did I say that I hate them. Questioning the motives of the men that use these soldiers as tools seems very patriotic to me. I’m the one that doesn’t like the idea of throwing young lives away to protect the interests of billionaires that look to do only harm. Show me a better way to honor the veterans and I’ll listen. I treat them like their lives mean something, not like they are meant to be fodder.
War is self-perpetuating idiocy; an abomination upon both those who wage it and those who foment it. The ultimate rationalization of our baser selves and the mad mischief of the Divine.
There is no honor in this.
A Chosen Few, The Herd”
by PFC A.M.Eyster, Co B 1/503rd, 173rd Abn
Only a chosen few of my generation could
Understand why the skeleton in my closet
Rattles in my deepest sleep.
It’s late now, And my eyes are growing
Tiresome, Soon my soul and dreams will
Return to a land of a thousand battlefields
And a million tears. 0nly a few of us can
Relate to the sound of incoming rounds or a
Medevac chopper taking off leaving a trail
Of blood in it’s wake.
Many years have past since I first heard
Him. The rattles were low and distant first,
But as time past it became apparent he
Wanted out and at this time in my life I have
Become tired. Tired of fighting him and
The morality or immorality of it all.
What was the meaning and the significance to it ?
Could he give me the answers to my questions ?
Would he comprehend my desolate frightened rage
Or would he condemn me for my belief in denying
His existence for so long.
There’s a crack in the closet door now and it’s
Almost daylight. Soon my soul and dreams will
Return from yet another mission. What was it
This time? An assault on some forgotten hill,
An Ambush, or just an eagle flight to a nightmare
In war zone “D” How many did we kill this time
Or how many times did we die? The answers
To all my questions will have to wait until
I have awaken.
Who are you to judge us, for you have not
Followed our trail, walked the point at night
Or heard the fire, Hell and screams of a single
Night. For we are the chosen few of “The Herd”
Who have touched the gates of Hell, seen the shadow
Of death and at times, are damned for surviving…
Eyster was in close and heavy combat. Some of the guys called it Nightmare Country.
It’s kinda like the Hotel California…
“You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave”
Colorado wrote:
Actually, these devices are designed to increase the battlefield survivability of friendly forces.
Having read about the carnage in the skies above Europe and the Pacific, and on the sunny ocean beaches and in the hedgerows, sometimes improving survivability of friendly forces means giving them the means to overwhelmingly defeat the enemy while staying safe themselves. Hence things like the F-16 and other weapon systems.
War is self-perpetuating idiocy; an abomination upon both those who wage it and those who foment it. The ultimate rationalization of our baser selves and the mad mischief of the Divine.
There is no honor in this.
So you would have taken the Neville Chamberlain tack then?
No, ironically, the Christ one.
There’s a graphic of a little kid looking up to a soldier, saluting him ??
Oh, please don’t confuse Eddie with those trivial things called facts…
There’s a graphic of a little kid looking up to a soldier, saluting him ??
Not only that but if you click on the graphic, it brings up a google search on “Veterans Day” (same thing they do for all their main page graphics).
Eddie has a disease called foot in mouth. He forgets to do his research before he posts.
It wasn’t there early in the morning when I looked. There was a Sesame Street graphic. Good for Google. Better late than never.
Are you sure you weren’t just watching Sesame Street with your mommy?
Web browsers cache graphics to lessen the load times.
As usual Google makes no mention of the day on their home page. They had a Sesame Street puppet for a week straight. But Veterans Day? Never heard of it.
I’m gonna start calling you Don Quixote.
Happy Veterans Day, Stpn!
HOOAH! Airborne!
(Although I am not airborne qualified, I still get to say it. It’s more in honoring those 82nd troopers who came before me)…
Good day for all…
Happy Veterans Day to Step & my son serving in Iraq
Thanks guys!
I want to be an Airborne Ranger, I want to live a life of danger…
Somehow I am always surprised that Veteran’s Day isn’t a legal holiday.
I just want to bring up one point . During World War II when America got the big bomb before everyone else ,we could of taken over the World at that point in history . If any other Country got the bomb first no doubt that World rule might of been the choice . There is no question that America has tried to protect it’s interest in oil and other natural resources in other parts of the World ,but taking territory has not been a objective since the Monroe Doctrine .
My view of the World stage is that you have to have a protective defense, like a strong military .The fact that we meddle a little to much in other Countries affairs is debatable ,but than you get the
concept of stopping Countries that are aggressive before they get to big with their aggression (so we never have a Hilter situation again ).
Where I think America is stupid is when we start trying to mess with other religions and cultures with arrogance and think we can change their ways to the American perception . In other words, the only way things change are by Americans being a example to other Countries . If other Countries want to adapt the American way ,than they will choose to ,or their people will fight to overthrow corrupt Governments. Americans had to fight for their freedoms originally .
I am always torn when it comes to the concept of America playing rescuer to every unjust situation going on in the World.
You get rid of one corrupt Leader and another one replaces that one . I see a slow natural trend toward American ways World wide ,but this just seems to be on a economical level rather than a adoption of our Constitution and protective laws . In other words ,the World envies the wealth of Americans ,but these Countries are not really willing to adapt the laws and freedoms that underline the American way . Also ,currently America is trending toward Socialism and the Constitution is being undermined by self-interest groups . It’s interesting how the younger people in Iran are rebelling against the long term
old order . It’s interesting how China is becoming more capitalistic .
+1000 We have a winner. I couldn’t have
expressed it better, thank you.
My view of the World stage is that you have to have a protective defense, like a strong military .
Worked for the French.
“if any other Country got the bomb first”
Hey..? I’ve been an American for so long.., I never really thought of it that way? Hmm…
Hey Housing Wizard and “good on ya’ ” across the board.
I would very much echo those sentiments exactly.
I will add this one point though. Eisenhower of course warned us about the buildup of a “military industrial complex” (MIC). In fact the founders I believe very much wouldn’t have liked such a thing. The U.S. as a whole didn’t have a standing army until after the Civil War, and not much of one until after WW2.
However - that being said - in the words of Bob Dylan - “The Times, They are a-Changin’”. Back in the day we didn’t really need to maintain a constant significant level of military spending, because the bulk of the resources in a given war were the soldiers themselves, and weapons of relatively simple technology - guns and cannons. Now however we have weapons that take years or even decades to even develop, at huge cost, and we have to maintain a higher level of spending just to keep up with potential threats technology-wise. This is true of so many aspects - weapons (fighters, missiles, submarines, etc), surveillance (satellites, communications, etc.), and so on. So much of our military resources now are based not on manpower but on the accumulation of technology. If we don’t have at least some significant level of constant spending - even in peacetime - to keep this technology advancing and current, we could be 100% certain we would lose the next significant war we entered.
So - grudgingly - I submit that a MIC is a necessary thing, just for basic survival / sovereignty in this age. What we do with that MIC is another question. But it is necessary.
Come you masters of war
You that build the big guns
You that build the death planes
You that build all the bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks
- Bob Dylan
Here comes Santa Claus!
Here comes Santa Claus!
Right down Santa Claus Lane!
Vixen and Blitzen and all his reindeer
are pulling on the reins.
Bells are ringing, children singing;
All is merry and bright.
Hang your stockings and say your prayers,
‘Cause Santa Claus comes tonight.
- Bob Dylan, 2009
(Yeah, I know it’s a Gene Autry song. That doesn’t make the Bob Dylan Christmas Album any less wierd.)
LOL.
It’s a world gone mad, Cowtown. A world gone mad…..
“MIC is a necessary thing, just for basic survival / sovereignty in this age. ”
Packman, I totally agree. Mis-use of MIC is another issue altogether, but we can’t survive without one. In a world surrounded by angry hungry wolves, you better have a gun…
The history of humankind is filled with conquest. The last World War happened not so long ago, my grandfather was in it. War for resources happened before, on a smaller scale it’s happening right now, it will likely happen again. To suggest we could just sit down like adults and talk it over when barbarians come knocking is very naive.
P.S. Canada and Mexico are not a good example of society without MIC, since their proximity to US already affords enough protection.
Exactly right, NYchk. Good post.
Veteran’s Day isn’t a legal holiday. News to me. This is a legal holiday at the federal level, and for many (if not all) states.
All veterans and active duty military personnel can eat free today at Applebee’s on showing proof of military service. Their website has crashed, of course.
Of course the definition of “legal holiday” is a bit wobbly in the US. In most countries people are entitled to a paid day off from work. But not in the US.
Colorado,
How could you go shopping if everyone was entitled to a day off from work? Isn’t Veteran’s Day mattresses? I think that is the traditional sale item for this one…
Happy Veterans Day to all vets.
Sweeping generalities; war is always bad, soldiers are all killers, soldiers are all honorable, looking out for corporate, religious interests is always good or bad miss the points that life is not always black or white and not all people and leaders follow a moral compass.
Wars are bad but there are just wars and even the Vietnam war had an aspect about it that make it understandable. We WERE in a war, a cold war but a war nonetheless. We didn’t know we’d win it and for awhile, it seemed we might not. Vietnam vets deserve honor.
In my mind, stopping slavery in the Civil War was worth fighting for.
Having just read Winston Churchill’s “The Gathering Storm” it is my conclusion that England and France should have used the military option to stop Hitler at the Rhineland in 1936. Some estimate that less than 300 soldiers would have died and the madman would have been stopped there. It could have been over. There would have been no WWII where 50-70 million men, women and children died.
I hate war but I realize that wars can sometimes be a necessary evil in a world where not all people are rational, reasonable or moral.
In a famous 1962 speech to the graduating class of West Point, Gen. Douglas MacArthur said, “[Soldiers] are not warmongers. On the contrary, the soldier above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war.”
Thank you US veterans.
Morning Stpn, morning all …
For some interesting videos of camel spiders, google-up “youtube camel spider”.
Just got the H1N1 shot today…
That thing HURT!
Thats because the medic was pissed off a anyone with shiny things on there uniform.
Naw,
Got the anthrax along with it and the regular flu in the other arm. Sore as hell now. The anthrax arm will have a lump for the next three days and itch like mad..
They waited a while to get you guys your regular flu shots. Civilian feds had them available (not manadatory) almost two months ago. I had mine at the main GSA building about 6 weeks ago. They ran out for a while, but I think they have ‘em again.
Very limited H1N1 vaccines for pregnant women were offered a week or two ago, but only for 3 hours and no news about more since then.
“Just got the H1N1 shot today…”
Thats, what… one or two weeks after Goldman Sachs employees? Man, that burns me up.
A good friend just started a new job about two weeks ago. All three of her kids fell sick on the same day this past weekend; their pediatrician diagnosed swine flu.
It’s all good. Lloyd Blankfein tells us that Golem Sacks are doing god’s work. Could he be lying?
Keep tearing things up over there Stpn!
Some of remember why you are there.
Good luck and good hunting.
A severance economy?
“The family’s lifestyle over the past year and a half has been propped up by a $200,000 severance package and another $100,000 in savings — funds the family has burned through rapidly. By Mr. Joegriner’s own calculations, the family will be out of money in six months if he doesn’t find work.
“It will be D-Day,” he says. “But on the outside, no one has any idea that we’re in trouble.” ”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125780714976639687.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_careerjournal
After fruitless negotiations, he turned down the job. The reason: The position didn’t include a guarantee of severance pay. Says Mr. Joegriner: “I just couldn’t take the risk.”
There are no “negotiations” in this economy. You take what you can get. If he didnt want to take the “risk”, then he deserves what he gets….
Am I the only one who feels this way? He turned down almost SIX positions. What does he think? CEO jobs are out there like burger king? I think this man is STUPID….
“I think this man is STUPID…”
I think he is about to become educated.
The money grubbing self-righteous moron is going to get a taste of life that he was complicit in creating for millions of others……. millions of others on the other side of the tracks.
Sweet vindication.
Yep
There is a large swath of American Managers who will be swept into the dust pan with the middle class as companies fail.
I like your anger!
Likewise NYCB.
The money grubbing self-righteous moron is going to get a taste of life that he was complicit in creating for millions of others……. millions of others on the other side of the tracks.
Sweet vindication.
He may - but as of last week it’ll now just be 20 weeks later.
(at yours and my expense)
I don’t think MD gets the 20 week extension. Isn’t that for places with above average unemployment? I thought there was a 14 week extension for places with regular or below average unemployment rates.
Not sure - I was more just addressing the general contradictory philosophy. Many people decry being greedy waiting longer to find their “ideal” job, while condoning extension of unemployment benefits which promotes exactly that behavior.
He deserves what he gets.
I looked him up. WHAT A LOSER! Mortgaged to the hilt. Three houses, and he’s got huge home equity lines on them. Mortgaged to the hilt. I think one of his home equity lines is a 40-year loan as well.
It seems almost inevitable that this guy would take a big hit, even if he’d kept his job. Seeing what I see in his finances, NO FRIKKIN’ WAY would I want him to run a bank like he did in his previous job.
“Mr. Joegriner’s mornings now start with a coffee run to the nearby 7-Eleven six days a week. While pouring his regular brew and a cup to take home to his wife, he calculates that by recycling the cups, he receives a 32-cent discount per $1.37 serving. That’s a savings of $3.84 a week, he reckons — even though this small “luxury” for the two of them still costs a total of about $655 a year.”
Amazing that people think that giving up $tarbucks is a sacrifice… geez, get a coffee maker!
The ability to distinguish between and need and a want is sorely lacking. And the ability to adapt to changing circumstances.
Wonder how much more of this “Keeping up with the Joneses” front is going to come to light - both among the employed and unemployed - in the near future. Lots I suspect.
it would be funny if it came to light he didn’t know hoe to make his own coffee
As I often point out to my friends and family, marketers have managed to redefine “spending less” to “savings.” I’m sorry, but saving is the act of putting money away.
Captain Credit Crunch,
So very true. It’s all but extinguished for younger Americans as well. But still, and I realize most posters here take pride in their frugality, but am I the only guy here that’s had a swift kick to the nutz?
Look, taking a fall isn’t exactly pleasant. Sure, you’ll look back and say there were things you ‘could’ have cut a LOT earlier that would be sparing you even ‘more’ pain now! No doubt, but for a lot people simply retreating to “the bunker” isn’t going to salvage or improve your situation?
People you -used- to work with ( uh… references! ) will say; “Yeah, after Karen got laid off, she just kind of freaked out” and good luck finding a job w/ ‘that’ rep!
but am I the only guy here that’s had a swift kick to the nutz?
Hell no! I’ve been laid off twice this decade, and am still earning less in nominal dollars than I did in 2001.
Lost everything, and I do mean everything in the dot com bomb. (no, we were not any of the familiar names you might of known)
Was working day labor for almost a year after that. Anybody here familiar with day labor? Yeah, with the illegals and ex cons at the labor hall before the crack of dawn.
I was just getting back on my feet when this recession came along.
And that wasn’t my first rodeo.
Very sorry to hear about that, eco.
I hope the next decade is better for you.
Penny wise, pound foolish.
The disease that inflicts the ruling class.
But they DESERVE to be rich!
There are no negotiations for serfs.
Wall Street and other executives are still negotiating bonsues, from the people they appointed to their boards.
New York City public employee unions are still demanding raises, from the politicians whose campaigns they backed. But they are prepared to agree to lower pay and benefits for new hires to get them, particularly if existing workers get to retire early.
Theres an upside to attrition early retirement….. new hires. If the FedGov really wanted to do something about unemployment they’d reduce SS age to 60.
and medicare! oh yeah baby
SS is available for widows at age 60.
Kicks in at 60 in the UK for women.
WT:
It should be about work rules that increase the cost to taxpayers. People are not cross trained to cover when people get sick or out for a long spell, or when it gets busy
I’ve had numerous time dealing with the courts as a paralegal, and people would be sitting at their desks even paying computer games while 1 person gets stuck with the 20 people in line.
Multiply that by what 200,000 nyc workers and the total costs must be very high…just ripe for cuts
Here in Norfolk I had to go to the city office to find out why I couldn’t renew my vehicle registration. The DMV didn’t know why, just that I was blocked. It didn’t say this when I tried to renew online, only after standing in line for over an hour. The internet didn’t know why. The kiosks didn’t know why. Had their information systems relayed the info properly, I could have avoided an insane amount of headache and hassle. Many employees could be replaced by a kiosk.
WT Economist,
Always more room under the bus for those lowly “new hires”!
( There’s different levels of ’serfdom’ for those not keeping score )
I wonder what it does for morale or integrity if you know that you just got hired for $12 hr while you co-worker got hired at the lowest pay at the time which was $20 just 5 years ago?
Generational warfare here we come. The young guy knows the older guy threw him under the bus and said, “I got mine”.
NYCdj/Boy,
Oh exactly. When I got out of the svc. in the late 80’s, airline mech’s were making… $15-$20 an hour. The Machinist Union ( w/ their boo-boo in the wringer ) quickly conceded that the “new hires” could be paid as they saw fit!
( You think I didn’t remember that? ) And people wonder how a guy that’s 50 could be “anti-boomer”?
Generational warfare here we come. The young guy knows the older guy threw him under the bus and said, “I got mine”.
I’ve seen a lot of stoic resignation from male members of Gen X and Y regarding this situation. It seems that as long as their girlfriends put out they don’t really care.
I wonder what it does for morale or integrity if you know that you just got hired for $12 hr while you co-worker got hired at the lowest pay at the time which was $20 just 5 years ago?
The same feeling you get knowing that the identical crapshack next door to you just sold for 40% less?
It seems that as long as their girlfriends put out they don’t really care.
Sex as palliative agent.
But that’s nothing new. Talk to the people who never leave a company until they are laid off — look at the salaries they saw during the dot.com years and later. Imagine how they felt.
Its also one of the reasons why in Silicon Valley, you changed companies every 5 years.
I had a friend who did the same thing after the .bomb collapse. He went without working for almost a year because he would not take anything less than what he had before. I thought he was a little crazy, but he ended up doing the right thing. After knocking on a lot of doors and talking to a lot of people, he found a position that paid more than his last gig and with a better title. He’s been there ever since and is a Sr. VP of something or other. Had he taken some $50K a year job out of desperation, just so he had a job, it would have hurt his career long term.
There is a case for holding out for the right price, whether you are selling your home for the highest possible purchase offer, or your human capital for the highest possible salary offer. The problem comes in when the seller (or job seeker) is so out of touch with current market conditions that they hold out for a price which will nobody will ever offer them. Given evolving economic conditions, it is quite difficult to find the right balance between waiting for the right offer and reducing expectations as needed.
they hold out for a price which will nobody will ever offer them. You can only know that in retrospect.
PB,
Certainly that is true. I think the comparison to house prices is not quite apt though for 2 reasons. The peak to trough to peak cycle for housing is much longer than for the labor market. Second while nobody really needs to buy a house if prices are falling, companies do need employees if they are to remain an ongoing concern. And companies still are willing to pay top dollar to get the right talent, even in a recession.
I posted this before. When I too was laid off in 2002, the next job I had paid more than the old one. Not by much, but enough to notice. And this was during the time when the news told me even God himself was having a hard time finding work.
I wholeheartedly disagree with idea of settling for the first thing that comes along, no matter what, because it’s a recession. Nothing good can come of it long term.
I wholeheartedly disagree with idea of settling for the first thing that comes along
Too bad your wife didn’t share that sentiment.
Heh, not bad, not bad at all.
Eddie,
My respect for you went up a little bit. Glad to see you can take what you dish out.
“I wholeheartedly disagree with idea of settling for the first thing that comes along, no matter what, because it’s a recession. Nothing good can come of it long term.”
I wouldn’t advocate selling a home for the first offer that came along (unless it was high enough to meet your expectations) or selling yourself short in the job market. All I meant was that it is a challenging search problem in either case to figure out the optimal time to wait and at what purchase price / salary offer to settle.
“The peak to trough to peak cycle for housing is much longer than for the labor market.”
This point is spot on. The labor market has this tendency to turn on a dime — after unemployment has been rapidly increasing, it is as though a switch is flipped, and it starts rapidly declining. It is wise to hold out until employers start to feel panicky about being able to find qualified workers (a likely scenario when unemployment starts falling again after a recession ends) if one has the staying power to do so. Since the Great Depression, no recession has lasted more than a couple of years, and most have been much shorter.
By contrast, as you suggest, the real estate cycle has a far longer period — normally a roughly decadel scale, though this time, since the prices peaked maybe 15 years after the trough of the early-1990s recession, it may be more like 15 years back down again — too early to say right now. We’re not there yet, though…
I repeat my advice to frustrated would-be home sellers and job seekers: “Lower the asking price.”
And then there is me, just turned down for an Interns job at Little Steven’s Underground garage/ renagade nation By some office manager i guess he wanted a kid.
Well i have nothing to lose by contacting him…
And Razor an Tie was paying minimum wage part time and still no interview or answers to my email….I guess its ok to steal the music…in exchange for age discrimination
———————-
There are no “negotiations” in this economy. You take what you can get. If he didnt want to take the “risk”, then he deserves what he gets….
dj, you’re missing a great opportunity. I’ve been reading your quest for a job now since 2005/2006 and I’m thinking there’s a great mockumentary movie or video there, sort of like a Michael Moore thing. The quest of an oldster to find a job amongst the young. You probably have the equipment to do it, too.
There will be no charge for the tip. You’re welcome.
You’re not the only one in that boat, dj. Read the comments thread about the layoffs at Adobe. Sheesh. I kind of like that Bobo commenter, he does tell it like it is.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/11/10/layoffs-reported-at-adobe/#comment-3087729
Thanks, still have weddings and other stuff going on, but its not working and going out of the house during the week which is really getting old… little bits here and there…
that’s actually a great idea.
Palm: “Bobo” is a deranged lunatic. Did you read/scan through all of his posts?
I think Bobo posted under multiple handles also.
It is kinda ironic that the Indians are upset about Chinese moving to India and taking jobs away from Indians:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News-By-Industry/Services/Travel/Visa-Power/India-insists-on-employment-visas-for-foreigners/articleshow/5163647.cms?curpg=2
India insists on employment visas for foreigners
26 Oct 2009, 1600 hrs IST, Karishma Julka, All foreign nationals holding business visa and working on projects or contracts in India should return to their home countries on expiry of their visas or by 31 October 2009, whichever is earlier.
Although the motive of issuing these guidelines is in the interest of huge unskilled and semi-skilled workers in India and to allow only highly skilled foreign nationals to work in India, it may cause some hardship to the companies who have foreign nationals working for them on business visas in India. Companies will have to incur additional costs in sending the foreign nationals (currently working in India) to their home countries and to apply for employment visas, so that they can return to India to complete the pending projects.
No, just the first couple of comments. I’ve heard similar before from laid-off software engineers training their replacements. Always thought that was a really bad idea. The only time I’ve trained replacements was when moving on was my idea and I wanted to help out the company. Or if I was promoted.
Ok, he might have had some good points initially but it got drowned out in a xenophobic rant later on.
“You’re not the only one in that boat, dj. Read the comments thread about the layoffs at Adobe.”
Great find, palmy!
Thanks..Its just sad the way people think today.. I would have like to work for these 2 companies..even if it was for little pay.
I know a Silly Valley code-slinger who commutes from the Pleasanton area, stop and go over the Sunol pass, bumper to bumper on the 237 to the 101. Today he’s working for 50% of regular pay without 401k contributions, the trashy 3/2 spec mortgage is way upside down, the family car is worn out and $18k still due, the wife hasn’t put-out in years, and the youngest daughter has a bun in the oven from someone in the permutation calculation. And this guy worked his a$$ off to get here.
“[Joegriner] pushes his grocery cart on a Friday afternoon through the full parking lot. “Sometimes I look at all this and think, ‘Are we the only ones struggling?’ You look around and see all these cars, it’s like there’s no recession.”
No, you idiot. If there were no recession, those people would all be AT WORK on a Friday afternoon.
And I have to ask about the $150K/year burn rate. Mortage: $2400/month. Private school: $13K/year. I’ll guess on the rest: Cars payment are, what? $10K/year? Food $12K, Insurance $20K…gas $2K, utilities $6K…
Hmmm, that’s $100K/year, being generous. I have to say, if Mr. Joeringer were still making $150K/year, taxes would take that last $50K. He’d be living paycheck-to-paycheck even with a job.
I guess the lesson here is to either have wifey get a second income, or find a place with much cheaper rent and get by with clunker cars. And that’s if there is no recession.
oxide,
Again I’m the last guy to rush to these muckety’s defense but it CAN be difficult to just slam on the brakes like that?
Are you supposed to just drop off the cars at the lender? Can’t exactly trade them in w/ all that - equity. How is a repo going to look on your fico when your potential employer goes to pull your credit?
And a million other things! But… like everything in HBB World, it’s a ’snap’!
The fast track to downsizing is painful but quick and effective. It’s called “divorce”.
Blue Skye,
LOL! Yeah.., one could always take that route. Then again I’ve been told the reason some divorces are so expensive ( is b/c they’re WORTH it! )
I don’t think some posters realize just how “class envy” so many of their comments sound like? In a recession, these guys make for easy targets. After all, many of us didn’t make that kind of money in the ‘best’ of times?
I only ask that people consider their ‘own’ situation and what taking a 30, 50, 75% pay-cut would mean to ‘their’ lives? Taking the kids out of school in the middle of the year? Lots of considerations and tactics we’re only too eager to sweep under the carpet.
I probably sound like a class envy person although my ideas come from being raised in a home where Dad’s income adjusted for inflation would have been well into 6-figure land. Basically the marriage sucked. Add a few more experiences w/extremely intelligent or wealthy boyfriends that either slapped me around a few times or treated me like a lap dog and I couldn’t get far enough from that lifestyle espeically since I made a high enough income to reach my own dreams and make my own decisions.
My husband’s story only reinforced my ideas. Yeah, he was just a carpenter when I met him because his family was wealthy enough that he could screw off for a while. We met someone else recently that made the same decision. Went from the largest home in town to one of the smallest. I wish I could explain how laid back and friendly this guy is. One of the highest quality people I’ve ever met. There is a quality of life issue that some that worked their way up don’t realize they’ve given up. So no we don’t wish to be you. We like our choices. They were made w/eyes wide open.
Carrie -
you had a BF that slapped you around a few times?
Holy fukk, I can’t even believe that somebody didn’t hurt him after the FIRST time.
Many of us have already had that 30% wage cut… years ago.
And seen wages frozen ever since.
I will never feel any sympathy (financially) for ANYONE making or who made over 100K who is having money problems… until they grasp what was happening to everyone else.
I think this man is STUPID
Like so many in the upper middle class he was deluded into thinking he was one of the eilte. Now he will find out that he too can be replaced by someone in Chindia and that the gravy train days are over.
Hey Colorado, he wasn’t just stupid — he was reckless. I know DinOr wants us to avoid the class envy thing, and I do. I know good people at all income levels. This guy isn’t one. I’m not saying he’s criminal; I’m just saying he’s completely foolhardy and unable to perceive risk properly. Maybe he WAS in the right place at his bank officer job. (DOH!)
The amazing thing is not that he was just reckless, as I can see from his inabilty to stop spending and his real estate investment purchases that he stupidly made at the top of the market; the problem is that he cannot seem to learn and adjust.
Keep that dolt far away from my money. Oh wait, too late. The Feds will no doubt help him to some of mine, whether I like it or not.
I was canned about a year and half ago from a 100K plus job. Not really downsized, I just wound up on the wrong side of a shareholder dispute. Sometimes you have to do what’s right regardless of personal consequence.
I took the first job that came along, even though it was at about 70% of my previous pay. The calculus was pretty simple, I figured looking for a job that paid as much as my previous one would take a year or more, and that was before the job market really went into a tailspin. I figured with four or five years until retirement, even if I found a job with higher pay in a year or a year and 1/2, I would never recoup the lost income from a year off.
The interesting thing, by just tightening our belts a bit and avoiding wasting money, we really haven’t noticed much of a change in our lifestyle. Being mortgage free really helped in this regard.
Had I been 10 or 15 years younger, I might have held out longer, but of course at that point, I would have had a couple of kids in the house to feed and a mortgage to pay. So, I very well might have been forced to take the first thing that came along.
A reasonable man is rare and hard to find.
Nice thinking.
Rancher,
Very well said sir! Obviously that transition didn’t come without it’s share of thorns, some people are up to it, others? Not.
I’ve yet to see a “Practical Guide ( for when your Life is getting flushed down a TOILET! )” but just cancelling your Premium Cable package probably isn’t going to cut it?
I still don’t see any takers on how this individual ( in the article ) was supposed to get a handle on his situation? Other than the typical bunker mentality responses.
Din,
Downsizing in a recession is the prudent and frugal thing to do and to have a reserve for those unexpected things that ALWAYS crop
up. I’ve been so broke I couldn’t go around
the block and so flush with cash it wasn’t real.
I was lucky to learn my lessons early and stick
with them.
We’ve pulled in our horns and are sitting back to watch the show, curtain time soon.
blessed are the poor in spirit. I started cutting back 2 years ago when I found this site, and I am still employed.
Rancher, In Montana,
Absolutely on -both- counts! And FWIW, I’m actually about as frugal as it comes. It would have to require “dropping the oil pan” before “I” would fork over for a tow truck!
And that’s in good times and bad. But still, “I” have the maturity to understand not everyone is basically… a Chicago Polack at heart? I have plenty of friends that won’t even bring their empty cans back for the nickel deposit!
So when it comes to people ( yes, even Eddie included ) that chose ‘not’ to live the way “I” have chosen, I’m cool w/ it. And I still await constructive criticism on how people can manage a “controlled crash” when they suffer a fall from grace? All of us cheapskates ‘here’ ( appraently wouldn’t have all that far ‘to’ fall? )
I still don’t see any takers on how this individual ( in the article ) was supposed to get a handle on his situation?
The real point is that he should have known to prepare for a bust and recession, as we did. In fact, we should all always be preparing for a recession.* And this guy was a banker. He should have known something was up in August of 2007. Subprime was a lost cause, but in Aug of 2007 there were rumblings about alt-A, which were immediately squelched in the news. He should have built the bunker then.**
As for his situation now, how ’bout he quit turning down job offers? There’s a start. Also, he’s been laid off for quite a long time. He could have pulled back on the schooling early on.***
Not sure what to do about the house. What if you sold, only to get a job the next week? He should have traded in the cars. I can understand being underwater on a house, but if this Einstein was underwater on the cars, then he deserves what he gets.
He could have taken the Wyoming job to get the lay of the land, then bring out the family (this was suggested in the comment section).
—–
*Heck, I lectured a mooch boyfriend to get a real career instead of occasionally teaching private guitar. What if the economy goes down, I asked him. Guitar lessons will be the first thing to be cut. You never know. This was in mid-2000.
**Which is what I did. And it has served me well.
***Although, given the state of schools in the DC area, private school is really the best for Prince Ian and Princess Skye (maybe the wife could home school? She doesn’t seem be working.)
And this guy was a banker. He should have known something was up in August of 2007.
Funny, but I don’t think the article mentions what he was doing in August 2007. He’d just finished buying his second “investment” property, I believe. (First one bought in march 2007). Nice timing. Did I mention 100% financing? It would sure have looked like an ignorant investment move to anyone on this blog at that time.
But the most surprisingly ignorant ones I knew in 2007 were the bankers and mortgage underwriters I know. I told one point blank to find another job at that time; he reassured me all was well because his company was in fine shape. Six months later, he was collecting unemployment.
As for this guy Joegriner’s schoolkids, he’s in Silver Spring, not the DC school district. So it’s not his kids would have to go to Ballou.
Silver Spring has a perfectly fine school system. If they decided they didn’t like it, they could get rid of the house and rent a house in Chevy Chase for $2400 a month and be in the best school district in the state.
Burning through the severance and savings at a rate of $150K per year. Must be tough.
This describes that man’s situation…from the comments:
Once upon a time, a man ended up on the roof of his house in a flood. In desperate straits he began to pray to the Lord to save him, raising his arms, wailing in sorrow, seeking salvation…..then along come a man in a boat. “Hop in son” he’s told, but the man replies “no-thanks, the Lord will rescue me”. Time passes, the water rises, and along floats a barge partially filled with others like himself. “Hop in stranger” they say…..but he responds, “No, I’m relying on the Lord to save me — he will come as he promised those that pray for salvation”. Later, as night falls, a helicopter drops from the sky, lowers a basket and the loudspeaker tells him to get in the basket, but he waves it off shouting ” The Lord will provide my salvation”. Night falls, the water rises, and the man drowns. He finds himself before the Lord, and says; ” Lord - I waited and prayed, and you never came…why have you forsaken me?” And the Lord answered ” Son, I sent a boat, a barge, and a helicopter and you refused all three”, …”somewhere you misplaced the good judgement I gave you at birth, and that’s why your dead.”
He better wake up, those jobs are there forever…
LOL! Thanks Step. I always love hearing that one. And the first time I heard it was in church!
Happy Veterans Day.
“It will be D-Day,” he says. “But on the outside, no one has any idea that we’re in trouble.” ”
The pressures of the ego that drive us to self destruction. I suppose that may have made sense in previous recessions when you could count on that V recovery. The “I spend therefore I am” crowd is really afraid to allow their membership to lapse lest they never get back in. They just don’t seem to connect the dots to the end that they’re marching their family into some dark times.
I remember in the 80s, 90s I would find out some co-worker was a Harvard graduate. I had worked w/them for 2-3 years but it didn’t appear necessary to them to point that out to others. They allowed their ability to handle the issues w/charm and intellect to earn their respect. Income change or not, there is never a loss in people’s recognition in your abilities once you’ve gotten their attention.
Another had Donald Trump attend her wedding. Again I only heard it through the grapevine after she’d mentioned it in passing to someone at another wedding. I never had any idea of her family’s position before that and I think that’s the way she wanted it. In the last 10 years I noticed the need for many to point those things out w/in 15 minutes of meeting them as though they felt the need to establish position. One particular incident I remember is a father on a sports field telling me his Dad was a famous SU sports star. It was an awkward segue from our conversation and I understood the intention. Pity Dad’s glory was all he had, I thought, and got away as soon as I could.
I really can’t wait till we get back to people being sure of who they are because of the strength of what they produce or bring to the table today. (Oh man, does that sound Randian?)
“It will be D-Day,” he says. “But on the outside, no one has any idea that we’re in trouble.”
He should move to Marin County, where I live. He’d fit right in.
Fond memories of our home in Belvedere, that
being said, am soooooo glad we left.
I recall one of my ex boss’s telling me where he lived. “Atherton” he said with a smug smile.
I asked him where that was. I never did move in his circles…….LOL
Under Attack, Fed Chief Studies Politics.
WASHINGTON — With the Federal Reserve under more intense attack than at any time in decades, Ben S. Bernanke, the professorial chairman of the central bank, was schooled last month in how to handle the increased political demands of his job.
For months, he had warned — without anyone on Capitol Hill appearing to listen — that a seemingly innocuous bill to let Congress “audit” the Fed would gravely threaten the central bank’s independence.
It was alarming enough that the bill’s author was Representative Ron Paul, the quixotic Texas Republican whose new book, “End the Fed,” had just landed on the best-seller lists. Despite vigorous protests by Mr. Bernanke, nearly 300 House lawmakers and 30 senators had endorsed Mr. Paul’s bill.
But when he sat down shortly after 8 a.m. on Oct. 1 at the Rayburn House Office Building for coffee and muffins with Representative Barney Frank, the rumpled and wisecracking chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, he took in some blunt advice.
Voters had become suspicious and unnerved by the Fed because of its trillion-dollar efforts to bail out the financial system, Mr. Frank warned. If the Fed really wanted to survive the disgruntlement in both parties, he continued, Mr. Bernanke would have to step back and let him devise a compromise.
“I’ll save you, Nell!”
You know you’re in trouble when you have to take advice from Barney Frank.
“the rumpled and wisecracking chairman of the House Financial Services Committee,”
Yessir, a regular Mark Twain.
palm - OT
I may be needing to rent a house in Clearwater at the end of March. What are the good neighborhoods, and the ones to avoid?
Philly, I don’t know as much about Clearwater as I should, right now I live about an hour and a half away from there. I owned a rental property there very briefly in 2000 and sold it within the year.
However, Muggy would be your go-to guy for that, he lives there and could probably make some recommendations. Pinellas County is a b*tch to drive, so it would be good to know if your situation is business or pleasure, if you’ll have to be going places, etc. Rte. 19 is the main drag that divides the area and depending on what you’re doing, you want to be on one side of it or another.
One thing I do know is that there is quite a difference between Clearwater and Clearwater Beach.
If you want to be near Tampa, rent in Safety Harbor. Has a great little downton and the oldest spa in the US.
If you want to be near the beach, rent in Clearwater Beach proper.
OK thanks this is a start, I just don’t want to end up in the COPS locations.
X-Philly,
Right, it’s not so much the sporadic gunfire, but the pork choppers search light in the window all night gets to ya’.
When I lived on Broad Street I developed the ability to sleep through every urban sound effect. Hopefully I will not revisit that “skill” in the Sunshine State…
X-Philly, I am very busy, but I’d be happy to help you out tomorrow when I have more time.
You absolutely need to be very careful with Clearwater. It’s a perfect example of an oddball Florida city that has absolutely amazing neighborhoods to daytime murder areas.
I need to know more: is this a vacation rental? Are you commuting? 1 week? 1 month? 1 year? Will you need to be close to the Hospital (where both my kiddos were born :grin:).
You can’t go wrong with CLW Beach, but you can go very wrong with areas N. of Drew and some other areas. I can tell you exact roads and cross streets if need be. I’m happy to help, but ‘Clearwater’ is way too vague.
BTW, Palmy, I live Belleair Bluffs.
He was just saying repulsive and dumb as a stump in a nice way.
Yes, let’s look at how the media frames this stuff:
‘Representative Ron Paul…quixotic Texas Republican’
Quixotic. Texas Republican.
‘Representative Barney Frank…rumpled and wisecracking chairman of the House Financial Services Committee’
One guy has worked for a lifetime as an outsider trying to reform this situation, the other has spent a lifetime as an insider. One wants to end the Fed, one wants to “save” it. But an observer might miss what’s the real question that we are facing. Just what is this “Fed”; what responsibility do they have for this “crisis” we hear about every day? Where do they get their funding, and who calls the shots? (Note; it ain’t Bernanke, he just works there.)
I’d bet the Girl Scouts of America have publicly reported audits. Why doesn’t the Fed? I still can’t understand why we need this organization, whatever it is.
The East Coast fairy with the Elmer Fudd accent is less quixotic than the MD from Texas? Hmmmm….
“Where do they get their funding,”
I think people would be really shocked to learn that the Fed actually “makes” money, in the literal sense. Before computers, they wrote down figures with a stubby little pencil in a ledger, now they enter the figures into computers. And then just debit out whatever they “lend”. That “money” goes through other banks, to people and companies and comes back with sweat and interest.
The ultimate money-laundering machine.
“Easy come, easy go.”
Wish I’d known all that when I wuz a pup, hounding my parents for a quarter and got the canned response “What, you think money grows on trees?”
Never really got an allowance, the ‘rents didn’t believe in it. Chores were supposed to be done by reason of being a family member, which sort of makes sense, in hindsight. Especially when I think of what my parents had to go through to put food on the table and keep the household solvent. Got kiddie jobs as soon as I could, raking leaves, pulling weeds, etc for neighbors. Paper routes were kind of scarce out where I lived.
We all had to collect for UNICEF at Halloween, some of the other kids would wisecrack about collecting for UNISELF.
for coffee and muffins with Representative Barney Frank
Who was pitching and who was catching? It would be hard to imagine two bigger scumbags sitting down for muffins and coffee, unless maybe it was Geithner and Jamie Dimon.
Don’t talk about our modern-day heros like that. Those guys saved all of us.
Perhaps the Fed could use a bit more glasnost, to dispel “conspiracy theories” like Griffin’s?
From A Talk by Edward Griffin: Author of The Creature from Jekyll Island:
“When I did my research on this topic I came to the startling conclusion that the Federal Reserve System does not need to be audited, it needs to be abolished. This is very intriguing to think we should audit the Fed but I discovered that probably if they audited the Fed it would get a clean bill because it’s undoubtedly doing exactly what it’s supposed to do according to the law. What it is supposed to do according to the law is justification for abolishing it so all we have to do is understand what the Federal Reserve System is supposed to do and we’ll be pretty upset about it. The fact of the matter is that most people haven’t the foggiest idea of what it is in fact supposed to do.
I came to the conclusion that the Federal Reserve needed to be abolished for seven reasons. I’d like to read them to you now just so that you get an idea of where I’m coming from, as they say. I put these into the most concise phrasing that I can to make them somewhat shocking and maybe you’ll remember them:
- The Federal Reserve is incapable of accomplishing its stated objectives.
- It is a cartel operating against the public interest.
- It’s the supreme instrument of usury.
- It generates our most unfair tax.
- It encourages war.
- It destabilizes the economy.”
…
This conspiracy theory stuff makes for an entertaining read, but I don’t know how much to believe any of it, given that it sounds stranger than fiction.
Paul Warburg
Paul Warburg was born in Germany, he was a naturalized American citizen…… the Federal Reserve System was modeled very closely after the Bank of England. It was what the textbooks call a “central bank”. That’s just a code word. It doesn’t really mean anything. It’s not a bank at all……. What it basically is, is a cartel - it’s a partnership between the government and the private banks. ……the cartel went into partnership with the federal government - and cartels like to do that because only governments can enforce the cartel agreements. ……. In this case, the banking cartel was very eager to get the United States government into the contract so that all of the banks - once they were in the cartel - had to follow the cartel agreements or else they would be violating the law and then the police could be brought after them…..cartels always have an affinity to government to enforce their cartel agreement. Interview with G. Edward Griffin, Author of ‘The Creature from Jekyll Island’
It was Paul Warburg who was a master at all of this. I think he had more experience with this central bank mechanism than all of the rest of them put together. So he was the technician - but also, we mustn’t forget that all throughout his business career he maintained a close relationship with his brother, Max Warburg, who was head of the Warburg Banking Consortium in Germany and the Netherlands. Not only that, he was a senior partner in Kuhn-Loeb & Company, which was one of the giant investment firms in New York, and as such they handled the financial affairs of the Rothschilds. So, he was well-connected at several different levels, as you can imagine. Paul Warburg is really the role model for the Little Orphan Annie caricature called “Daddy Warbucks”. Everybody at the time knew that Paul Warburg was “Daddy Warbucks”. Interview with G. Edward Griffin, Author of ‘The Creature from Jekyll Island’
So Paul Warburg looked like Hank Paulson?
So Paul Warburg looked like Hank Paulson? I always thought Hank modeled himself of Daddy Warbucks.
The “faith”-based heretics and “conservative” authoritarians as the centerpiece of the “conservative revolution” are implicated in the the housing and debt bubble.
Yep…. Just pray and Jesus will deliver you prosperity. What a twisted group of mongoloids these heretics are.
theatlanticDOTcom/doc/200912/rosin-prosperity-gospel
Want some cream and sugar with your morning bogeyman?
Ask the Atlantic Monthly’s editorial dept.
Ask the Atlantic Monthly’s editorial dept. — this, from the head of HBB’s hobgoblin dept.
And when the truth is spoken, it is disparaged.
So much for the apologists being truthful.
The article is bunk.
Yes there may be self-proclaimed “Christians” that are greedy and contributed to the housing bubble, and somehow believe that their faith brings them money - but in my very strong opinion they are not Christian at all, being that their beliefs are totally at odds with Christ’s teachings.
I could just as easily find a large set of women who were greedy, got foreclosed on, etc. and build a similar case that “women caused the bubble”. Sorry, but it just doesn’t fly.
And FWIW - the author’s link to the survey doesn’t even work.
An article in The Atlantic Monthly is “bunk” huh??? lmao…..
You waaaay over your head on that one. But you’re correct that they aren’t Christians and the fact that the Atlantic Monthly exposes this appears to be your beef but its not the journalism. I’ve been to many churches over the past 7 years and my observations are much the same as what you read in the article.
My observation is that many people see what they want to see. Someone who has their mind set on preconceived notions can easily see Mother Theresa as greedy or Adolf Hitler as a saint.
IMO you either fall into that camp, or you’ve been very unlucky with your pick of churches to go to. I’ve been to a few churches as well, and I’ve never seen that behavior as a common thing. I won’t deny that I have known some people who profess to be Christians that got overextended and foreclosed upon, but it was generally out of foolishness not greed, and certainly not a higher percentage of people than the general population.
I moved from northern CA a few years ago - one of the most bubbly areas, and can say most definitely there are very few Christians there. So while the bulk of the bubble areas were in the sun belt, they certainly weren’t confined to Christian areas - Las Vegas in particular comes to mind. I think the sun belt thing was much more a case that one of the drivers of speculation was based on expectations of the big baby-boomer retirement wave moving to retiree areas. If it was related to Christianity you would have seen areas like rural NC, SC, Tenn, Georgia, Alabama, etc. be the most bubbly areas, which they very much weren’t. These areas are the most Christian of all in the country, but not target areas for retirement.
The fact that Rosin doesn’t even mention that in her article shows it to be a hack piece.
“He shall lend to you, but you will not lend to him; he shall be the head, and you will be the tail. So all these curses shall come on you and pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you would not obey the Lord your God by keeping His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you” (Deuteronomy 28:44-45)
“The wicked borrows and does not pay back, but the righteous is gracious and gives.” (Psalm 37:21)
“The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.” (Proverbs 22:7)
“Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. ” (Romans 13:8)
shall I go on?
And lmao back at you at the Atlantic Monthly comment. Talk about pretentious.
Youre beef is with the facts stated in the article. Your opinion of the Atlantic Monthly amounts to raindrops in the desert given their history of objective journalism.
Just pray and Jesus will deliver you prosperity.
No faith without works…
See my comment above on god…
Finally we agree on something.
Martin Luther does not approve of your message Stpn.
Nor does Crazy John Calvin.
There was a guy named Jesus that didn’t agree either.
Exactly. Dobson and his cast of charlatans don’t want the world to know that though.
Link/quote?
One great misunderstanding of those who believe in saving by faith is that they also believe works are not necessary. This is not true; and I doubt MLK said it. I could be wrong though - if so I’d like to see.
Martin Luther and Martin Luther King were seperate dudes.
There’s no denying:
James 2:
14 What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?
15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.
16 If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?
17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
Martin Luther and Martin Luther King were seperate dudes.
Doh - OK, well I missed that distinction.
Nonetheless I don’t believe ML (no K) said that either. His main beef was the Church’s movement towards justification by works alone. He never argued for justification by faith alone, without works.
I mean - I know the distinction of course, just my brain read (incorrectly) “Martin Luther King”.
“Nonetheless I don’t believe ML (no K) said that either. His main beef was the Church’s movement towards justification by works alone. He never argued for justification by faith alone, without works.”
Martin Luther may not have argued it but his entire reformation implied what we know today as “all you need to do is admit and accept JC as your savior”. There is nothing in the NT that even suggests that let alone explicitly states it. ML’s “reformation” led to the formation of fascist ideologies and was the basis for nazism.
Now ask yourself….. just exactly how do you get to works in the absence of faith? You don’t so your assertion that ML’s issue with the catholic church is a moot point. Any genuine believer accepts this as fact.
Nonetheless I don’t believe ML (no K) said that either.
Au contraire mon ami. The two pillars of the reformation were Sola Fide (faith alone) and Sola Scriptura. It was also said that Martin Luther wanted to remove the Epistle of James from the New Testament, and the he called it the “Epistle of Straw”
ML’s “reformation” led to the formation of fascist ideologies and was the basis for nazism.
As a Catholic I think that is stretching things a bit.
Sola Fide refers to justification by faith alone, however it does very much not hold that someone who has faith but not works is justified. Contrarily - lack of works indicates that a declaration of faith is merely lip service, and isn’t true faith.
In other words - works themselves won’t get you saved; faith does. But you can’t have faith without works, because that indicates that your faith is false.
exeter:
Now ask yourself….. just exactly how do you get to works in the absence of faith?
You wouldn’t really contend that a non-Christian can’t be a charitable person, would you?
“ML’s “reformation” led to the formation of fascist ideologies and was the basis for nazism.”
Dietrich Bonhoffer begs to differ with you.
In other words - works themselves won’t get you saved; faith does. But you can’t have faith without works, because that indicates that your faith is false.
exeter:
Now ask yourself….. just exactly how do you get to works in the absence of faith?
You wouldn’t really contend that a non-Christian can’t be a charitable person, would you?
————————————-
Simple answer is no. (I’m gonna take alot heat from my non-believer friends here but it is what it is)
I’ll turn it back around on you. You wouldn’t really contend that a Christian in name can be a genuine Christian without works do you?
ML took the Paulian epistles to the extreme. And as if Saul of Taursus wasn’t enough of a zealot, ML, hence modern day protestants give far too much weight to the epistles and conveniently forget about JC’s words in the gospels. Whithout the gospels, it’s nothing more than a history book.
Blue Skye,
Bonhoeffer was Lutheran(not to be confused with todays lutheran denomination) in name only. He attended seminary in the US and was tempered by the social justice bent of the gospels. See what happens when one diminishes the importance of the Paulian epistles? A genuine Christian emerges.
His book is a difficult read, but I have read it. I thought he was a regular Lutheran by training, only had more courage than the average under Hitler. Thanks.
You wouldn’t really contend that a Christian in name can be a genuine Christian without works do you?
No more so than someone with an accounting degree who waits tables the rest of their life could be considered an accountant. Which is to say - not.
Back to the original contended quote:
“No faith without works…”
It’s a single-directional causal relationship. Stpn2me didn’t state faith = works, or works = faith. That statement implies faith results in works, which corresponds directly with what’s stated in James, and implied by pretty much all of Jesus’ teaching. In fact Matthew 22:
36″Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37Jesus replied: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
spells it out quite clearly that faith (love of God) and works (love of neighbor) are quite distinct, but both commanded by Christ. Martin Luther may discount James, but I would find it incredible that he would also discount Matthew’s gospel.
Jeez. pMan. You’re arguing about nothing. We agreed 10 posts ago.
No let’s just “hope” and chains will happen….
The retardicans getting deep sixed is more than enough change for me.;)
artvandalay!
Oh ‘there’ you are! ( I’ve always spelled it Van Delay in my mind but..? )
And a Happy Festivus to you!
I attended the local megachurch for a while. It was eye opening to say the least. I found the pastor very much was trying to pull his flock back into the idea of self-responsibility and sharing gifts/wealth with those less fortunate. Unfortunately other national ministers that had the media’s attention had a firm hold on many.
To be fair there appeared to be a real mix of attitudes. There were doctors doing stints in Africa and setting up medical and nutritional systems that greatly increased the quality of living in the areas visited. There were women watching children for others or helping people w/their finances w/o pay. OTOH you could tell there were many that basked in the idea of superiority and wouldn’t be caught dead stepping into Syracuse and helping a person they deemed below them get back on a healthier track. Having church shopped a bit, I found this situation again and again, frustrated church leaders trying to get the people back to basic values while the materialistic cultural environment just had too tight of a hold on too many. I had conversations w/leaders from several different churches. All shared some stories that were quite frightening and I understood there was really only so far they could tread.
Carrie Ann,
And sorry to hear of some of your past experiences btw.
I’m not a big church-goer either. In fact the wife and I just had our 25th and I think that was the last time I’d been inside one?
No seriously, I think there needs to be a semblance of balance there. Not to take up for some of the greed heads ( God WANTS you to be RICH! ) but when we donate all our time and give away everything, how long will it be before WE need assistance? So it’s not easy for the church either.
This is wrong, completely. The way the scam really works is: “Just pray, and write me a check, and the Lord will provide.”
HEAL thy wicked spending habits:
http://www.revbilly.com/index.php
* The Wall Street Journal
* OPINION
* NOVEMBER 10, 2009, 7:02 P.M. ET
The Real Threat to Fed Independence
Unless we shrink large financial conglomerates, we will end up with a socialized banking system.
By HENRY KAUFMAN
The Federal Reserve in coming years will probably become highly politicized and thus lose its quasi-independent status. This is because of past shortcomings in its policies and, more importantly, of difficult decisions that face it in the year just ahead.
…
If an overwhelming proportion of our financial institutions are deemed too big to fail, monetary restraint would fall heavily on institutions that are not. Pressure would sharply intensify on smaller institutions that mainly service local communities. Further consolidation would result, which in turn would reduce credit-market competition. At the same time, with increasing financial concentration, market volatility would increase.
All of this would narrow the gap between the Federal Reserve and the political arena. Taken to its logical conclusion, our market-based system of credit allocation would be replaced by a socialized financial system, and the Federal Reserve would become part of it.
A much better approach would be to prohibit any financial institution from remaining or becoming too big to fail. This would require that regulators downsize large financial conglomerates. In this process, the prime targets for divestiture should be financial activities that pose risk to the stability of the deposit function as well as operations that pose conflicts of interest.
Our financial system is at a crossroads. We can either succumb to the forces that are shifting markets toward greater government back-stopping and socialization. Or we can create a structure in which no institution is too big to fail, and a financial system that is supervised effectively by a modernized central bank.
Mr. Kaufman is president of Henry Kaufman & Company Inc. and author of “The Road to Financial Reformation: Warnings, Consequences, Reforms” (Wiley, 2009).
I can’t understand who the winners are in this “snake eyes guaranteed” gambling policy. It seems like losers all around, but perhaps I am missing the politicians and financiers in the story who are skimming bonuses and campaign contributions off the money flow? And then there are the beneficiaries of the GSE-provided affordable housing to consider…
The Fannie Mae Dice Roll Continues
Losses of $400 billion are increasingly possible.
…
It would be bad enough if Fannie and Freddie’s continuing losses were merely the product of bad bets made amid the housing bubble in 2006 and 2007. But the latest red ink is in large part the result of a deliberate choice to run their businesses at a loss over the past year to support White House housing policies.
The most recent losses include $22 billion of what Fannie Mae calls “credit-related expenses,” which in English means foreclosure costs and losses on loans that are “worth” more than the house. Of that amount, $7.7 billion comes straight from Fannie’s support of the Obama Administration’s mortgage-modification program. Fannie and Freddie have been buying mortgages out of the securities they were bundled into and are then modifying the terms, which invariably means taking a loss on the loan.
Through this program, taxpayers are directly subsidizing homeowners who borrowed more than they could afford, or more than their house is now worth, or both. The government is doing this under the cover of losses at Fannie and Freddie because Congress and the White House know these programs are both expensive and unpopular with the poor saps still paying their mortgages on time.
The dynamic duo’s delinquency rates also continue to climb, even on modified loans and on mortgages on which Fan and Fred have chosen to forbear from demanding repayment. The $400 billion that Congress has appropriated to keep Fan and Fred afloat, in other words, has quietly morphed from emergency aid into a $400 billion housing subsidy program. On current trends this will all be spent before President Obama is up for re-election, and, judging by the results so far, taxpayers will have little to show for it.
Having ruined the U.S. mortgage market, Fan and Fred have become the tools for its continued nationalization and a never-ending bailout of mortgage borrowers. This is one reason we advised former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson to put the companies into receivership and leave them in run-off mode when he had the chance.
Instead, Mr. Paulson placed them in conservatorship and sent them out to lend more and more. In the past year, they have all but erased the private mortgage market, at great cost to both the taxpayer and the integrity of the private financial system. They will roll snake-eyes for taxpayers for years to come.
…
“The dynamic duo’s delinquency rates also continue to climb, even on modified loans and on mortgages on which Fan and Fred have chosen to forbear from demanding repayment.”
It sounds like America has institutionalized government-sponsored mortgage lending debauchery.
Looks like it’s time to lump FHA in with those two.
The direct result.
(Keeping in mind that that value is primarily against the Euro - a currency that’s also doing the same thing; thus it’s worse than what’s presented)
Is there really a debate over whether residential real estate is currently in worse shape than it was in the early 1990s?
At least it sounds like “the rates” have been successfully stabilized, as despite record vacancies, they are only projected to fluctuate from $21.92 to $22.20 a square foot by 2014. ‘Tis merely a flesh wound
* The Wall Street Journal
* PLOTS & PLOYS
* NOVEMBER 11, 2009
Retail Vacancies on the Rise
Retail, Reeling
Landlords and brokers are busy debating how the Great Recession compares with the real-estate disaster of the early 1990s. In retail, the verdict is clear: This time is worse.
CBRE Econometric Advisors, the CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. research unit formerly known as Torto Wheaton Research, predicts in a report to be released today that available space in U.S. shopping centers will reach 12.9% in next year’s fourth quarter, up from 12.2% in this year’s third quarter. The vacancy rate will then “hover around that peak for at least several quarters,” CBRE economist Abigail Marks said. That surpasses the peak vacancy rate for retail in the early 1990s, which hit 11.3% in 1992.
CBRE predicts that the rates, now at an average of $21.92 a square foot, won’t start rising until 2013 and won’t return to last year’s levels of $22.20 until 2014.
The CBRE figures cover open-air shopping centers. The shop forecasts a higher vacancy rate than Reis Inc., a real-estate research company. Reis foresees shopping-center vacancies hitting a peak of 12.5% in 2011.
—Kris Hudson
Well, wasn’t online shopping going to render all this Retail sq. footage ‘obsolete’ anyway? Anything to keep the focus on Retail I suppose?
Meanwhile, gold set a new record overnight, touching $1,119 per ounce. Subpar wages? All should have been paid in gold. Then no complaints. In gold I trust.
So far, there are no laws that prevent Americans from instantly converting their savings into gold. No complaints here, either…
if I buy any more, it’ll tank.
A bit solipsistic, but I swear it works.
This reminds me of the saying:
“The markets can remain irrational a lot longer than you can remain solvent.”
Gold has bubble written all over it but could still have a move to the upside by gullable get rich quick thinking investors.I guess all those people who got foreclosed on moved into the gold market.
If you have profits take some off the table.Do not get greedy.
“Gold has bubble written all over it but could still have a move to the upside by gullible get rich quick thinking investors.”
Given the dollar-denominated price of gold on the international market, its upward trajectory appears to be a fundamental consequence of the Fed’s deliberate choice to let the dollar slide. So I am not clear what you mean when you say it is in a bubble?
Buy, buy, buy!!!
Indications
Nov. 11, 2009, 7:54 a.m. EST
U.S. stock futures point to solid gains after Fed talk
Related stories
* AIG, Macy’s, Toll Brothers in focus (8:51a)
* Reed Elsevier CEO Ian Smith quits (6:57a)
* British shares advance as miners climb (7:49a)
* Europe stocks jump as miners, earnings boost (6:58a)
LONDON (MarketWatch) — U.S. stock futures Wednesday pointed to gains for a second time this week, as traders interpreted a flurry of Federal Reserve officials’ speeches as a green light to buy up dollar-denominated assets while selling the greenback.
…
What happens to the price of gold if the Fed suddenly changes it’s mind?
What happens to the price of gold if the Fed suddenly changes it’s mind?
And stops printing? Yeah, right. I have a better chance of growing that proverbial third nut by lunchtime.
The Fed stops printing and the bond market crashes, the housing market crashes, the stock market crashes and maybe even gold. They have worked themselves into a situation where they can only go one way. To stop is to die.
100% correct, to stop is to die. The moment
the rates rise, the crash happens. A gigantic
financial bubble.
“100% correct, to stop is to die.”
Hence they will never stop, unless circumstances force them to do so.
So the question is, what circumstances could potentially constrain the Fed from continuing down their current path?
Beats me. I’m looking at something that will
happen outside the constraints of US control
which will break the dollar..????
What are your thoughts?
So the question is, what circumstances could potentially constrain the Fed from continuing down their current path?
About the only thing is the U.S. economy shrinking down significantly in size relative to the rest of the world.
Rumblings from China at this point (e.g. about the $) are mostly noise, though have had some effect. As the U.S. economy continues to shrink relative to the rest of the world - the rumblings will grow and grow, and have an ever-increasing effect, until the Fed has no choice. The U.S. Fed will have an ever-decreasing say world economics as the $ loses its share of the world reserve currency.
It’s a path that will take years though, maybe decades, to complete.
outside the constraints of US control Nukes taking out a supergiant oil field in the middle East. Pandemic. Big asteroid strike.
“…So the question is, what circumstances could potentially constrain the Fed from continuing down their current path?”
The Paul bill passes?
I don’t know of a single person at work, or in my personal circle, that is buying gold.
Nor me.
On the other hand in 1998 I remember people at the office admiring a colleague for her positions in YHOO. Everyone who was anyone at the office were talking tech stocks.
Gold is not finished yet. Has to make the covers of not only TIME, but Newsweek, US News, and the financial section of USA Today.
Annually, gold makes the cover of Fortune magazine. Bad sign? No?
A fool and his money are soon parted in the gold market!!!!!!
Well..? I’ve had some decent traction w/ the mining companies of late. In fact it’s been a hell of a run. But I’ve taken that off the table for now.
I suspect that the speculation is fueled by all the money the Fed is shoving up the bankers’ @sses, not by us lowlifes. Commodities in general have climbed back up to ‘07 levels this year. It isn’t due to demand on the street returning to peak bubble level. The banks should be using that money to write off their losses. It seems they just hide the losses and go gambling with the money.
I also cannot fathom the Fed slowing voluntarily. If something in this fragile set up gives way, the question is whether they can accelerate to infinity.
I am fine with being parted with my fiat money in the gold market… as long as I get physical AU in return.
Given the dollar-denominated price of gold on the international market, its upward trajectory appears to be a fundamental consequence of the Fed’s deliberate choice to let the dollar slide. So I am not clear what you mean when you say it is in a bubble?
I’m fairly certain he’s talking about irrational exuberance, and how that’s led to a spike in gold prices. Have you not seen the countless commercials/infomercials offering to buy gold, or recommending one to invest in gold, etc.? These alone suggest to me that gold prices are living on borrowed time. The dollar is at it’s lowest in nearly 2 years. At a certain point, I’m betting on a recovery.
I’m fairly certain he’s talking about irrational exuberance, and how that’s led to a spike in gold prices. Have you not seen the countless commercials/infomercials offering to buy gold, or recommending one to invest in gold, etc.?
During the housing bubble there were a few ads by people looking to buy homes - but the very vast majority were ads for people/companies looking to sell homes.
Contrast that with “cash 4 gold” etc., where 100% of the ads are people looking to buy, not sell.
See the difference?
“Contrast that with “cash 4 gold” etc., where 100% of the ads are people looking to buy, not sell.
Your statement is 100% false. There are innumerable commercials recommending people “invest” in gold, hence my statement:
“Have you not seen the countless commercials/infomercials offering to buy gold, or recommending one to invest in gold, etc.?”
You have blinders on, but that’s not surprising since you hold gold.
As I was driving home I realized that yes - you’re right not all ads are for buying gold, there are many selling; just now able to revisit the post (I was intending to retract). Nevertheless my observation is that there are a lot more buying than selling; contrary to real estate.
Gold may well be in a bubble. Its price has of course quadrupled in just a few years. However being that the fundamentals (per se) of gold’s prices include this, and this - I wouldn’t count on much of a deflation of that bubble anytime soon - at least as it relates to the US $.
“If you have profits take some off the table.Do not get greedy.”
…and put them where? The stock market? US treauries yielding 0.01%? Real Estate? The US dollar? Clowns and ballons? As long as the money pumps are running full throttle gold can only go up. Once the money pumps are stalling watch out below, but I think that world wide bankers are commited to keep on pumping for a long time to come.
I am still somewhat skeptical if money printing/pumping will lead to long term prosperity. Last time around it didn’t work out to swell.
Actually, I would think slowly building up a ladder of T-bills paying 1/3 of 1% yield is a good thing to do.
Interest rates will eventually skyrocket. Not this year, not next year, but in five years. And at the same time you have a cash cushion for emergencies, don’t pay state income tax on the measly gains, and your gains are not enough to incur significant Obama taxes either.
It’s not that Gold is high, the dollar is low.
Not a big gold guy myself. But dollar is tanking and will tank more, so Gold and oil are higher.
Read John Law’s Mississippi scheme in Extraordinary popular delusions available for free on the internet.
I hear these debt-relief offers blaring over the radio station they pipe into my YMCA’s fitness room every time I go to work out: “Wall Street got its bailout; shouldn’t you get one?”
* MARKETWATCH
* NOVEMBER 8, 2009
Beware of ‘Debt-Relief’ Offers
By ANDREA COOMBES
For consumers drowning in thousands of dollars of debt, the lure of paying “pennies on the dollar” to their creditors in a process known as debt settlement is tough to resist.
But the television and radio ads that blare “pay just 50% of what you owe” too often neglect the fine print. Debt settlement — which entails not paying your bills until your creditor agrees to accept only a portion of the total owed — works only for a few of the consumers who attempt it.
And consumers who enter the process may endure months of creditors’ angry phone calls, plus a growing debt load as fees, penalties and interest are tacked on to their original balance due. Plus, there’s a distinct possibility creditors will sue.
…
Well that is what caller ID is for….then set your phone on 5 rings since most machines default at 4, and auto dialers only dial 4 times.
And then when you are sued, show up in court and tell the judge you are broke and about to be evicted. It will be dismissed.
Small price to pay to get rid of the debt.
But most people get scared out of their wits over this and settle…Not realizing they have a right as an American, to have a neutral 3rd party (judge) decide.
———
And consumers who enter the process may endure months of creditors’ angry phone calls, plus a growing debt load as fees, penalties and interest are tacked on to their original balance due. Plus, there’s a distinct possibility creditors will sue.
That’s why we need DEBTER’S prison. Put the dead beats on a pile of rocks with a hammer making gravel. That’s what Dickens and Swift would do!!!
The “buy gold!” offers are starting to get mixed in significantly on these channels, I’ve noticed.
A colleague of mine at work has been 100% against buying gold years ago. Whenever I saw him in the hall I used to say “buy gold.”
These days I don’t tell him to buy gold. Because I’m not doing much of buying anyway. I’m holding.
Buy T-bills.
Doesn’t sound very wise to me, going around letting your colleagues know you’re a goldbug. Sounds like a way to set yourself up for a home invasion.
That colleague is harmless. Vietnam vet, very politically conservative engineer, very very law abiding, and a stubborn stickler at following rules.
People are not always what they seem.
I’m with Sammy on this. The last thing I would ever do is tell anyone I own gold.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091111/wl_afp/brazilenergyblackout
Brazil is experiencing a massive blackout this morning. Since US utilities seem more focused on “shareholder value” and quarterly earnings than long-term capital investments in our energy infrastructure, I wonder how long it’s going to be before we see similar blackouts and brownouts in U.S. cities as aging, overstressed power grids break down. And one can imagine the joy of the criminal element when the power goes out and it’s open season on looting, rape, and robbery.
Brazil is experiencing a massive blackout
It’s over. I had to take a bus instead of the subway. It was hot and dark. I had to burn a candle…
Sounds like Brazil may be headed down the path San Diego took back during the Enron era…
Sounds like Brazil may be headed down the path San Diego took back during the Enron era…
You mean my house in Rio will increase in value for the next 6 years?
You mean, energy pirates were more interested in gouging consumers and blackmailing state governments than ensuring a functional and robust energy grid? Say it isn’t so!
Enron was the number one contributor to the Bush campaign. Go figure.
They were also one of the biggest backers of the Kyoto Protocol.
“You mean, energy pirates were more interested in gouging consumers and blackmailing state governments than ensuring a functional and robust energy grid? Say it isn’t so!”
bbbbbbbut we *need* less regulation, more deregulation…. that’s it! that’s the problem….
at least they were allowed to go bankrupt.
So not getting in the way of Enron going up in smoke makes it ok for them to jam it up the a$$ of every rate payer on the planet?
Another new twist from the corporate apologists.
no apologist here…my post was meant to point out that in today’s political world…not only do they accept donations from large corporations…they bail those corporations out.
at least in the “good ole days” of corruption they let the companies go bankrupt if they effed up.
at most…they were a corrupt mega corporation granted economic favoritism through large sums of money being donated to various political persons including the president of the united states and should burn in the depths of the ninth plane of hell tormented for all eterntiy by beelzeub himself and a cohort of large spiny joshua trees the likes of wich God has never seen.
at least…they were allowed to go bankrupt.
Let’s not forget Enron got help from our CA legislature by voting for deregulation.
How is your Mom SanFranQL?
Greg
ATE-UP,
Where the heck have you been my man? Hope you are doing well.
Mom is good. She is finished with this round of chemo. All of the family is hoping the cancer will be in remission for a few years.
ATE!
I was getting worried about you, son. Glad to see you back.
And Goldman Sachs was Obama’s second biggest contributor.
GS and Obama are energy traders now?
You’re full of interesting “information”.
Read the news, man
Cap and Trade Could Be a Boon to New York
The city is uniquely positioned to benefit from a global market in carbon emissions.
…
If Congress establishes proper oversight of a carbon market, New York’s financial talent, expertise and institutions are uniquely suited to provide the tools and innovation for a new commodities market of this size. Firms wishing to invest over the long term will need to turn to our financial sector to create the emerging products and provide the capital that would allow them to make green energy investments.
An infrastructure is already beginning to form, as entities like the New York Stock Exchange, J.P. Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and the new Green Exchange are developing carbon trading platforms or expanding their environmental trading desks. There are nearly 100 funds already focused on green investments.
…
There has been a lot of info as such. Goldman and the other WS firms stand to make big bucks on energy trading.
And presumably you’re aware of the vast ties of Obama’s administration with Goldman (as was Bush’s, FWIW).
(previous post was in response to exeter)
No, it was something wrong with the dam that provides hydro-electric power. Brazil has done a lot to utilize alternative sources of energy, but even those have their drawbacks. If the river gets low, could be trouble.
Still, I’ve gotta hand it to Brazil. I’d put up with the occasional outage to have lower energy costs. And as solar, wind and wave energy come on line, we’ll see those outages. Just the way it goes. We’ll have to learn to live with back-ups, planning, etc.
Glad the blackout’s over for them. Here’s another interesting energy tidbit:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/nov/09/peak-oil-international-energy-agency
The world is much closer to running out of oil than official estimates admit, according to a whistleblower at the International Energy Agency who claims it has been deliberately underplaying a looming shortage for fear of triggering panic buying.
The senior official claims the US has played an influential role in encouraging the watchdog to underplay the rate of decline from existing oil fields while overplaying the chances of finding new reserves.
The allegations raise serious questions about the accuracy of the organisation’s latest World Energy Outlook on oil demand and supply to be published tomorrow – which is used by the British and many other governments to help guide their wider energy and climate change policies.
Oil companies have a vested interest in overstating their reserves to pump up “shareholder value.” So it wouldn’t surprise me if the whistleblower’s allegations are dead on.
Time to go nuclear. Pebble-bed reactors are the wave of the future. Meltdown-proof and they generate far less radioactive waste.
Got my vote on that one. Also would create more jobs.
Financial black hole, yes, but I don’t get the FHA bailout rumors. If they have a bottomless credit line from the Treasury, how can there be a risk they will need a bailout at some future point? I also don’t get the claim that their “cash reserve fund” is running low; how can a bottomless money pit run low on funds?
What is even the point of performing the Grand Kabuki dance of bailing out the FHA, if they can stealthily get made whole by the Treasury whenever they need more money to shore up their reckless, feckless subprime mortgage lending operation? This must just be yet another political financial scam, but I don’t claim to understand how it works.
FHA’s reserve fund hits 7-year low
Agency’s cash running low; automatic bailout possible if loss continues
By Dina ElBoghdady
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
The Federal Housing Administration, which has played a crucial role supporting American home buyers after the collapse of the mortgage market, has burned through a huge cash reserve in less than a decade and could soon wind up with what amounts to an automatic taxpayer bailout if the agency’s fortunes don’t improve, according to a review of FHA finances.
Senior FHA officials have assured Congress that the agency will not need a bailout, which would be politically sensitive for lawmakers to approve after the government has already spent hundreds of billions of dollars rescuing financial companies.
But the agency’s complex funding mechanisms — little understood in Washington, including on Capitol Hill — do not require the FHA to turn to Congress if the agency cannot cover losses on its outstanding loans. The agency, which collects premiums from borrowers who take out FHA-insured mortgages, has been automatically drawing down on money it deposited with the Treasury Department when the FHA was flush with cash. Those funds have dwindled as the FHA’s losses grew. If the losses continue unabated, the FHA would still receive money from Treasury.
“It is absolutely a myth that they would have to go to Congress for money,” said Marvin Phaup, a former budget analyst at the Congressional Budget Office and now a budget expert at Pew Charitable Trusts. “The FHA has permanent authority to get money from the Treasury because it is backed by the full faith and credit of the federal government.”
…
Americans are starting to get drunk on real estate again.People are getting into bidding wars to get a 8k tax credit, WTF?
How did barnie frank ever make it to congress?
“How did barnie frank ever make it to congress?”
Campaign contribution quid pro quos with REIC constituents just might have had something to do with it…
Dumb voters in MA, that’s how.
I got friends in MA/NH that absolutely love that guy. I can’t say I ever shared that sentiment.
MA lost a congressman after the 1980 census. The republicans were in charge of the redistricting and saw that Margaret Heckler had been re-elected for 16 years in a district that covered a bit of Southeast MA close fairly close to Barney’s district (he was an freshman rep who did unpopular things like point out that Social Security and Medicare needed reform or they would go broke eventually). They got rid of Barney’s district and managed to connect his residence to a large chunk of Ms. Heckler’s district and assumed that she would win handily against a newcomer in a district that had been electing her for so long. They forgot to check how that district voted for president - democrats all the way. He has been the rep for that district (includes my hometown) ever since.
And that is how Barney kept his seat after the first two years. I have no idea what situation lead to his first term - whether it was an open seat or if he won against an incumbent. Probably an open seat.
Dumb question of the day:
Have government-sponsored banking scam operations always been a part of the American financial landscape, or is the current episode a historical anomaly, thanks to the wanton destruction of the once-stable US housing finance system?
In post-Soviet Russia it’s hard to tell where the criminal syndicates (the “Mafiya”) stops and where the government starts. Bureaucrats sold off state enterprizes to mobsters and oligarchs for a song, and have been in bed with them ever since. I’m starting to think it’s not so different in America.
Right here, right now.
In some ways this current episode compares to what the government did to finance WWII.
Coincidentally, we currently find ourselves embroiled in two wars in two different countries.
Not coincidentally, we currently find ourselves embroiled in two wars in two different countries.
Two posts, on two wars. Coincidence, or not?
When you post as much and often as I did earlier this morning, reposts happen…
FWIW though - military spending as a % of GDP:
1943: 45%
2009: 5%
Right. Before the election I did a comparison going back a number of administrations (choosnig a relatively good year in each) to track spending and revenue as a share of GDP.
Basically what happened is that federal spending on health care (mostly for seniors) went up, payroll taxes went up, and income taxes went down. This is comparing FY 2007 with the best economic year under Carter in the 1970s.
Spending on the poor is lower, but it wasn’t much to begin with. Defense spending was also lower on the two wars than under Carter. Infrastructure investment is way down.
This doesn’t suit anyone’s political narrative, now does it?
Out of curiosity - what’s your data source? It’s on my “to do” list to do more analysis of government spending breakdown historically - I got the military spending from the NIPA data, but that’s as far as they break it down (defense vs. non-defense). I was going to look into other more detailed sources.
Thx.
The Carter-era #’s don’t surprise me. Up through the early years of Bush 1 we were still spending a ton on cold war stuff - we didn’t really cut back until later Bush 1 years and of course Clinton; going down from 7+% in the late 1980’s to under 4% by 2001.
I’d say government-sponsored banking scam operations have always been a part of the American financial landscape, but the current episode is an historical anomaly in its order of magnitude.
“a historical…”
right the first time
right the first time
Thank you. You are correct, the word “historical” provides an exception to the “before a consonant” rule.
* In some cases where “h” is pronounced, such as “historical,” use an:
An historical event is worth recording. Source: purdue.edu
Context. Sounds pretentious as hell to say “an” when you’re pronouncing the H. I think in the distant past (scholarly type) people used more of a French pronunciation with the silent H.
i love this blog.
Shadow Inventory Dwarfs Loan Mods-Diane Orlick
http://www.cnbc.com/id/33834317?__source=RSS*blog*&par=RSS
“I’m back on the foreclosure bandwagon again, especially after getting the Treasury’s Home Affordable Modification Program status report this morning, and its glaring omission of any information as to how many borrowers are actually keeping up with the payments on their trial modifications. ”
Pesky details…
I have some sage advice for FBs faced with the choice between loan modifications and walking away:
Just drop off the key, Lee,
and set yourself free.
Don’t become the Treasury’s stooge and pay your life savings to prop up a failed mortgage lending system which nobody in a position of power (except for maybe Ron Paul) seems interested in discussing or fixing.
Again, Diane Olick is the only CNBC person worth listening to on a day-to-day basis.
Looks like Dilbert has caught up with WT Economist’s posts this morning.
In what sense?
It appears that my company’s computer blocks Dilbert (which happens to be the most Dilbert-like thing I’ve come upon since working here).
Check it from home, then– I think you’ll appreciate it. It has to do with generational economics.
I’ll look forward to it.
Sounds like Asok is getting screwed again.
Naw, Asok is complaining as usual.
“My stapler is broken - toss me that intern.” - Wally
Too-big-to-fail will end, along with financial governance by deliberately engineered financial disasters followed by bailouts of the too-big-to-fail entities which engineer them. It is merely a question of when, not if. The politicians and financial governors who are trying to
forestall this inevitability are whistling past the graveyard. I look forward to the pleasure of saying, “I told you so,” when it happens.
November 10, 2009
Fixing Too Big To Fail
Michael Konczal: Barney Frank Wants Regulatory Reform Legislation To Fix The Problem But History Suggests Another Outcome
(The Nation) Michael Konczal is a financial engineer based in San Francisco. He blogs at The Atlantic Monthly’s Business Channel and at the Rortybomb Blog.
When the epitaph is written for the era of crisis and bailouts, “Too Big to Fail” will undoubtedly be on the gravestone. This week the House Financial Services Committee, chaired by Barney Frank, is revising marked-up legislation intended to solve the “too big to fail” (TBTF) problem in order to take into account concerns about funding and moral hazard. Following the twists and turns of the reform can be confusing, even mind-numbing, so, as a guide, let’s look at several of the problems that happened over the past few years in the financial sector, and see how legislative efforts have attempted to address them. (Spoiler alert: not very well.)
…
let’s look at several of the problems that happened over the past few years in the financial sector, and see how legislative efforts have attempted to address them. (Spoiler alert: not very well.)
Impossible. Many frequent contributors here have assured us that the Federal Government can fix any problem through more regulation.
And other frequent contributors think if we just left banking alone none of this would have happened.
To them the Glass Steagle repeal, lac of enforcement of current laws, no rules on rating agencies cozy ties with those that hire them to rate bonds, no rules on securitization played no roll in this mess.
Again I’d say it’s lac of regulation and enforcement that were the problem, but even if regulation and gov fail from time to time as long as there is democracy and some open gov and a free press then there is the chance to fix things. If you want to see how no regulation works out go to Somalia.
Sorry, but Somalia was under a Soviet-style Communist dictatorship for 22 years. That’s about as regulated as it gets. According to your theories they should be in ship shape by now.
And other frequent contributors think if we just left banking alone none of this would have happened.
If the gov’t never chartered banks in the FIRST place, none of this would have happened. A bank is nothing but an attempt to repeal the basic rule of asset-liability matching: borrow short, lend long, pocket the spread, and hope for the best. The endless Federal banking regulations are just futile patches on a fundamentally flawed structure.
“HORSHAM, PA. (TheStreet) — Luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers(TOL Quote) announced that its new contracts are up 42%, and that it expects fourth-quarter revenue will top Wall Street’s expectations.
From preliminary fourth-quarter results, the company said it predicts revenue of $486.6 million. Granted, that is significantly lower than the $691.1 million from last year, but it is also $100 million more than analysts forecast. The news sent shares spiking 7.3% in pre-market trading to $19.47.
The contract cancellation rate was 6.9%, the lowest since the fourth quarter of fiscal 2005.
Buyers signed 765 contracts for homes valued at $430.8 million during the quarter.
The company expects the extension of the tax credit for homebuyers will help sales, but still warned that the housing recovery”
Something smells fishy: I did some quick math in my head and $430 million divided by 765 comes to something like $600k per home. I have grave doubts that $600k homes are actually selling at all anywhere.
More pump-’n-dump from the Toll Brothers? Never been a better time to invest in luxury McCrapShacks, I guess?
Toll Bros is HQ’d in Pennsylvania, to our state’s everlasting shame.
Comment by DD
2009-11-10 12:33:48
Just want to thank DD for that verrry interesting and informative bit of Grand Rapids history in yesterday’s Bits Bucket. They sure didn’t teach us that in our grade school local history class! Particularly fascinating was the part regarding large mortgages and big families keeping the working stiff’s bargaining power nonexistent.
I add my thanks, and a challenge: How did this state of affairs come about, and how could it have been prevented? No points for saying “stronger unions”…
Is bailing out the financial economy a “core function” of the Fed?
market pulse
Nov. 11, 2009, 8:57 a.m. EST
Sen. Dodd says Fed should return to core functions
By Robert Schroeder
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., said Wednesday that he wants the Federal Reserve to return to its “core functions” of monetary policy and being a lender of last resort. Dodd unveiled a reform bill on Tuesday that would give the Fed a much smaller role in banking oversight. He defended the bill in a CNBC interview on Wednesday and said he’d begin a bill-writing session in about three weeks.
Dodd’s been nailed in that Friends of Mozilo scam (Mozilo being one of the principals in the subprime meltdown), and he got nailed for putting in language in a bill allowing the executive bonuses of AIG to go through ( “Mr. Dodd is the top all-time beneficiary of AIG campaign contributions” ). I wouldn’t trust Dodd farther than I can throw him. He knows he needs to sound tough, but he’s going to be rattling the saber, all the while collecting massive amounts of cash from the financial industry, so he can stay in his office, and the industry can continue to count on their man.
Big name economist sheds light on folly of hair-of-the-dog consumption spending cure:
The Financial Times
Obama has lost his way on jobs
By Jeffrey Sachs
Published: November 10 2009 20:45 | Last updated: November 10 2009 20:45
The past week brought news of US double-digit unemployment and the Federal Reserve’s decision to maintain near-zero interest rates. Both pieces of news expose the inadequacy of US economic policymaking. The Obama administration’s stimulus policies are not well-targeted. The Republican alternatives are even worse. Both sides are missing the key fact: the US economy needs structural change that requires a new set of economic tools.
Consumer and investment demands are too low for full employment. Consumer sectors such as housing no longer generate adequate spending by households and businesses.
Potential investors exploring more promising areas, such as low-carbon energy and infrastructure, are stymied because of the lack of a clear policy framework. Neither the Keynesian approach favoured by the Obama administration, nor the tax-cuts favoured by Republicans, addresses the problem at this structural source.
Following a Keynesian approach, the Obama administration has focused on restoring consumer spending. They have gone about this with a combination of near-zero interest rates, massive Fed financing of mortgages and various consumption incentives, such as rebates for new homebuyers and cash for clunkers.
During the previous bubble, the US consumer was encouraged to over-borrow. Recreating a new bubble is like offering just one more drink, on the government’s account, to overcome a mass hangover. With budget deficits of about 10 per cent of gross domestic product, government spending needs to be far more consequential than temporary boosts to consumer spending.
…
The writer is director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University
Consumer and investment demands are too low for full employment. This is the core of the economic crisis. I’m not sure what any politician or party can do to solve this, although there is quite a lot politicians can do, are doing, to make it worse.
I’m not sure what any politician or party can do to solve this, although there is quite a lot politicians can do, are doing, to make it worse.
You could say the same about just about any other problem in life.
Don’t you understand, PB? The elites are saying, “Let them eat houses.” Can’t get a job? Buy a house. Lost your job? Buy a house. About to lose your house? Don’t walk away. Stay. Eat your house.
This is perfect.
I am reminded of the witch’s gingerbread house in the story of Haensel and Gretel.
Word to the wise: If this guy is not lying through his teeth, and fiscal balance is in the works as a future US policy goal, then US residential real estate will be a terrible investment over the next three decades.
Think of it this way:
1) Current policy is to “stabilize” residential RE by artificially propping up its price.
2) Fiscal discipline will require an end to programs like the ones at the GSEs and FHA, which are currently pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into a residential real estate black hole.
3) Without taxpayer-provided unaffordable-price supports, US residential real estate prices would summarily tank, thanks to oversupply.
Any questions?
The Financial Times
Geithner seeks to reassure on dollar
By Lindsay Whipp in Tokyo
Published: November 11 2009 08:02 | Last updated: November 11 2009 13:41
Tim Geithner, US Treasury secretary, on Wednesday reiterated his belief in the importance of a strong dollar, ahead of the arrival in Asia of US President Barack Obama.
“I believe deeply that it’s very important to the United States, to the economic health of the United States, that we maintain a strong dollar,” Mr Geithner told the Japanese press in Tokyo.
The weakening of the dollar, which on Wednesday dropped to a 15-month low on a trade-weighted basis, has led to some concern over the future of the dollar as the central currency in the global economy.
“We bear a special responsibility for trying to make sure that we are implementing policies in the United States that will sustain confidence… in investors round the world,” he said.
He added that as the world’s largest economy recovered, the government would bring the fiscal position back to “a sustainable balance.”Mr Geithner is in Tokyo speaking to Yukio Hatoyama, the Japanese prime minister, and other top officials ahead of the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation meeting in Singapore this week.
…
The objective right now of the Power that be are to punish certain sections of the population so Wall Street and the Banks/Insurance Co. can get healthy again ,or at least get rid of the losses that would of created a insolvent situation . So ,the gig is to work a stalling game while the losses are being taken care of in one way or another . Our economy has been contorted for going on 5 years now so the culprits can get whole
again . The Power will keep stalling new regulations . By all rights when the meltdown occurred ,a immediate purge and overhaul was in order ,but that would of effected the BIG CASINO called Wall Street and how they make their money .
The Insurance Cartel is another area in which serious reform is needed .
The Insurance Industry has become nothing more than a Monopoly .
This insurance Monopoly is operative in Health Care ,home insurance ,car insurance and
you name it . In addition every year my home insurance goes up ,yet I get notices of a decrease in coverage . I’m forced into over insuring my house also . Think about how a Insurance Company (AIG) was the biggest beneficiary of the bail-outs. So Insurance Companies have to be included with Wall Street and the Banks as the entities that control
the Politicians these days .
“Realtors, Wary of Zillow, Build Their Own Data Tool”
http://tinyurl.com/yzkawcn
Great…. Rather than NAR admitting their complicity in the Great Housing Fraud and cleaning house(no pun intended), they double down and plan to further distort and twist truth and reality through a new propaganda outlet.
exeter,
Uh huh, and rather than giving an inch in terms of “control” they’ll just conjure up their ‘own’ version of reality. When things were on the incline, I thought they loved Zillow?
I know that almost all of us on HBB would run to donate to this worthy cause:
Donating this year? Uncle Sam needs your help
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — You’ve probably heard about the country’s giant debt load - $12 trillion and rising.
Did you know you can help reduce it?
Under a little-known law enacted in 1961, Uncle Sam accepts tax-deductible contributions to pay down the country’s debt.
Not that the Treasury Department does much to publicize the program.
You can find it under the header “Accepting Gifts” in the U.S. Code. Or, if you’re not an avid reader of dusty legal books, you can check the FAQ section on the Web site of the Bureau of Public Debt, an agency within Treasury. Or flip to page 91 of the IRS’ 2009 Instruction Booklet for Form 1040.
Contributions made are typically small — under $100. But there have been a few humdingers over the years.
The largest single gift ever made was in 1992 for $3.5 million, said Mckayla Braden, a spokesperson for the Bureau of the Public Debt.
For fiscal year 2009, all donations totaled just over $3 million. That’s well more than what was donated in any single year in the decade prior. But it’s far less than the nearly $21 million collected in 1994.
The money credited to the “Gifts to Reduce the Public Debt” account in theory reduces the amount of money the government has to borrow to finance its debt. But the dent is not deep or lasting.
“We might have to finance a tiny bit less that week,” Braden said.
Naaa they would just find something to spend it on and congress would vote themselves a nice big raise.
The only way to help our government is to take away their money and force them into the real world.
I never understood the point of donating to reduce national debt so long as the government keeps increasing the debt ceilings year after year and allows the FED to keep printing.
I seek opinions from the wise …
My phone number has somehow gotten associated with one or more delinquent accounts. Not my name or SSN, just my phone number (my credit is spotless). And so the collection agencies call. Every day. 4 or 5 of them now. I hear the caller ID announcement and never pick up, but it’s still annoying. It goes in cycles. They call for a while, they give up, the account gets sold off to a different agency, and it starts up again. This has been going on for about 5 years, and it’s getting worse. Maybe it’s because Indiana has a statute of limitations of 6 years to sue over credit card debt, and this is their last chance.
Would it worth it to actually talk to them and tell them they’ve got the wrong number, or could that backfire by getting my name associated with the debt and/or resetting the clock? Can I run out the clock by ignoring them another year, or do they keep going?
Would it worth it to actually talk to them and tell them they’ve got the wrong number, or could that backfire by getting my name associated with the debt and/or resetting the clock? Can I run out the clock by ignoring them another year, or do they keep going?
I think it would be simpler to use another phone number.
Perhaps you can see if a lawyer looking for cases could sue them for harassing you. You could offer 2/3 of any settlement. Thus you would be harassing them.
That debt could be ten years old, they don’t care about statute of limitations because most consumers are unaware of their state’s limits.
Check out the particulars of the Fair Debt Collection Act -
Although I wouldn’t suggest talking to them, because they may take that as an indication that you really are the debtor and you’re just trying to shake them.
But the above commenter probably gave you the best solution, change your phone number.
Had the same problem a while back.
Asked the caller what I could do to prove that I’m not the person they were looking for. I answered a couple of questions (basically last four digits of my SS - don’t give out the full number - and birth date) and haven’t heard from them since.
I had the same problem. Summer 2008 my cell phone was getting calls, always between six and seven in the morning (my cell phone number is an east coast area code since I never changed it after we moved to IL). They called about three times over a week or two period, and each time I told them they had the wrong number. I received verbal apologies, but they didn’t ask me questions as they did to Read Estate Refugee. The calls then stopped suddenly, so I assumed they figured it out. I would have changed the phone number had it continued.
mamooth,
Oddly I had the very same scenario played out on me back in 2003/2004. And I hear ya’, it’s a real PITA.
Since I’m on the phone a lot during the day, I’d click over to pick up what I hoped would be an important call and… it’s some collection dude looking for whomever had the number before me!
You HAVE to call the Attorney General for the State where the calls originate from! I ‘did’ and as it turns out, they were coming from Indiana! Anything else is just a waste of time. These guys -issue- threats, not -respond- to them. Quoting some statute or Do Not Call threat means jack to these @ssmonkeys.
Yes, you’ll be writing a letter. Ask me, I know. This guy owed everybody and when my buddy down at the tire shop starting beating me up on the phone ( insisting I was ‘pretending’ not to be the guilty party ) I knew I had to do something! Bummer, I know.
My sister had the same problem. They would ask for a specific person and she would tell them they had the wrong phone number. It took a few months to get their records straight. The phone calls stopped.
As a poster mentioned you can also change your phone number.
This happened to me too.
I did end up speaking to them and explaining I was not Antonio Mendez and the calls stopped.
I guess they believed me.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/33850971
testing the waters?
Totally!
I have made this point several times. The Fed will keep interest rates absurdly low till China decouples. This is trying to force their hand and China is again showing signs of breaking the peg.
Historically I’ve noticed that on days when the trade deficit is annouced there is dollar support from unknown sources (read central banks). It will be interesting in light of the chronic slip slide-age in the greenback to see if tomorrow shows different.
Sorry, Friday.
Hello Beachhunter,
Hotels in Copacabana: I’ve known 2 tourists who stayed at the Rio Roiss Hotel (rioroiss.com.br) and they said it was OK and a good location. I like the location because it is a block from the Beach and one block from the corner of Rua Bolivar and Rua Aires Saldanha. This corner has a concentration of hip bars and restaurants and a block away at the beach is Devassa, Rio’s only microbrewery. It’s half a block away from the football bar too.
But like all of Copacabana things can change quickly. One block away in the other direction is Help Disco where tourists converge from all over the world to meet professional women who are neither doctors nor lawyers. Take care if walking in this direction late at night.
Right next door to Rio Roiss is Hotel Biarritz which I know nothing about except the location. biarritzhotel@terra.com.br
I can’t personally recommend either hotel however I do like the corner with the bars and restaurants and being a block from the beach is cool and at a lower price than right on the beach.
Avoid hotels close to Rua Sa Ferreira as this street is an outlet and inlet for a big favela (slum).
A good read on the prosperity gospel and its sway on irrational peoples and its contribution to the crash. Note the guy went from drug dealer => loan officer (Countrywide, no less) => hack preacher. Hell, he should run for Congress.
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200912/rosin-prosperity-gospel?ref=patrick.net
Poor Barry, slip sliding away…
Daily Presidential Tracking Poll ~ November 11, 2009
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Wednesday shows that 30% of the nation’s voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty percent (40%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -10 (see trends). Republicans have opened a six-point lead on the Generic Congressional Ballot.
Sixty percent (60%) say that the Fort Hood shootings should be investigated by the military as a terrorist act. Just 27% prefer a criminal investigation by civilian authorities.
This Veterans Day, 81% of Americans have a favorable opinion of the U.S. military. Thirty-six percent (36%) had a close friend or relative who gave their life for our country. A Rasmussen video report notes that 69% say that military service is good for young people.
The Presidential Approval Index is calculated by subtracting the number who Strongly Disapprove from the number who Strongly Approve. It is updated daily at 9:30 a.m. Eastern (sign up for free daily e-mail update). Updates are also available on Twitter and Facebook.
Overall, 46% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President’s performance. Fifty-three percent (53%) disapprove.
Sixty-six percent (66%) of Americans oppose a law that would effectively ban the sale of big-screen televisions to save energy.
Sixty percent (60%) say that the Fort Hood shootings should be investigated by the military as a terrorist act. Just 27% prefer a criminal investigation by civilian authorities.
I wonder how many of the people polled know the difference?
Best of Times for Wall Street, Worst of Times for American Workers
Nov 11, 2009 Investing, Products and Trends, Recession, Banking.
More Americans are losing their jobs as domestic unemployment soared to 10.2% in October — a 26-year high. It could take at least four years before unemployment recovers to more normal levels of 5 or 6 percent, Chris Rupkey, an economist at the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, told the AP.
However, 80% of companies listed on the S&P 500 have reported better-than-forecast third-quarter profits. What’s going on?
“For most ordinary Americans life is still pretty tough. Unemployment is rising,” says our guest Matthew Bishop, NY bureau chief for The Economist. The layoff announcements continued Tuesday with Adobe’s announcement it will cut 680 jobs. Meanwhile, the retail sector is increasing its holiday staffing at a slower-than-normal pace, the BLS reports.
Businesses faring better: “But the business sector has actually responded very well to the challenge of the crisis,” Bishop tells Aaron. Through layoffs and paying down of debt, many businesses have got their financial houses into order and are looking at opportunities — in emerging markets and/or mergers and acquisitions.
“The markets are reflecting an optimistic scenario,” says Bishop, author of several finance books, most recently co-author of “Philanthrocapitalism.” Indeed, the Dow Tuesday finished above 10,247 — the highest close since Sept. 2008.
Caution for investors: But with many consumers still hurting, it won’t be an easy recovery for businesses. Bishop urges investors to stay clear of consumer-dependent sectors such as retail and focus on those most exposed to growth overseas.
However, 80% of companies listed on the S&P 500 have reported better-than-forecast third-quarter profits. What’s going on?
Uh, they’re boosting the bottom line by laying people off?
‘The public debt will likely pass $12 trillion this week, up another trillion since March. With Obama’s left flank calling for a second stimulus – which is really a third stimulus if you count George Bush’s tax rebates – there’s still no serious discussion about how to deal with debt.”
~Rolfe Winkler, Reuters
We can calculate how big the next stimulis needs to be to create (or save) the rest of the 3.5 million jobs.
What the CNS reporter failed to understand, is that madam moonbat has never read it, and doesn’t believe in it.
CNS News reporter: “Madam Speaker, where specifically does the Constitution grant Congress the authority to enact an individual health insurance mandate?”
Speaker Pelosi: “Are you serious? Are you serious?”
CNS News reporter: “Yes, yes, I am.”
Not responding further, Pelosi shook her head and took a question from another reporter.
Pelosi doesn’t take the Constitution seriously, nor do most members of the House and Senate, most Americans don’t either.
There should be no doubt that Pelosi, and many other members of Congress, would be clinically diagnosed as sociopaths.
I’m not sure she has all of the characteristics:
Diagnostic Criteria
1. Since the age of fifteen there has been a disregard for and violation of the right’s of others, those right’s considered normal by the local culture, as indicated by at least three of the following:
A. Repeated acts that could lead to arrest.
B. Conning for pleasure or profit, repeated lying, or the use of aliases.
C. Failure to plan ahead or being impulsive.
D. Repeated assaults on others.
E. Reckless when it comes to their or others safety.
F. Poor work behavior or failure to honor financial obligations.
G. Rationalizing the pain they inflict on others.
2. At least eighteen years in age.
3. Evidence of a Conduct Disorder, with its onset before the age of fifteen.
4. Symptoms not due to another mental disorder.
This is the common complaint I saw on a site of my Congressman Harry Mitchell. They have honestly been reprinting letters to H.M. and 9 out of ten of them are opposed to his following the party line, which was voting for the Pelosi plan. Most of those letters cited the constitution in their opposition to government involvement in health care.
“…Provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare…?”
yes, and I hope you know there is a significant difference between “provide” and “promote.”
FHA temporarily (about a year; lol and they’ll probably extend it) suspends condo lending rules it put in place to protect itself.
Yummy, houses.
Atlanta Radio Talker Neal Boortz:
“Guess who is back at the government trough? Fannie Mae! After being seized by the government last year, Fannie Mae may have to ask the government taxpayers for more money. The company is unable to sell $5.2 billion in tax credits to Goldman Sachs. Last week, the treasury decided that Fannie Mae couldn’t sell $2.6 billion in low-income housing tax credits because it would result in a loss of tax revenue. Overall, we have poured $60 billion into this sucker.
‘Now here’s an idea! Since our federal government has done such a wonderful job of running something so simple as a mortgage company … let’s turn our health care over to these incompetent jerks!”
< The question of the hour is - how much longer can the federal government keep borrowing stupendous amounts of money to continue to keep the economy afloat? Can “stimulus” work as a permanent financial fixture?
The flood of dollars from Washington is only postponing a long overdue economic correction. Professor Nouriel Roubini thinks we’re heading for a deflationary depression. Economist Peter Schiff thinks a blast of heavy inflation lies ahead.
What’ll it be? Who knows? One thing for sure, all debt is paid…either by the borrower or the lender.
Phoenix’s job market ranks fourth worst in the country, according to the Milken Institute.
The California-based think tank ranked metro job markets in the U.S. on factors such as the ability to attract, grow and retain higher wage occupations.
Phoenix ranked 196th out of 200 metro area for job growth between March 2008 and March 2009. The region ranked 181st for job growth between calendar years 2007 and 2008, according to Milken.
The Phoenix-area economy has been hit by the housing slump and recessionary dives in consumer spending, tourism and business investments.
The Milken report ranked Temple-Fort Hood, Texas, first for jobs between March 2008 and March 2009 as well as for job gains between all of 2007 and all of 2008.
Fort Myers, Fla. ranked last out of the 200 U.S. metros in terms of one-year job growth between March 2008 and March 2009 and all of 2007 and 2008.
Milken also ranked Phoenix 93rd for longer-term high wage job growth and prospects. Austin, Texas, ranked first. Texas cities accounted for nine of the top 16 jobs markets in the report.
Flint, Mich. was last in that ranking. Michigan and Ohio cities accounted for 13 of the bottom 15 long-term job markets in the U.S.
Gemcraft Homes declares bankruptcy.
LEWES — Gemcraft Homes, a development firm that has built 16 residential communities across Delmarva, has filed for bankruptcy.
The company was forced into restructuring due to the downturn in the construction and real estate markets, director of advertising Kimberly Kemp said in a prepared statement.
Gemcraft is one of the largest homebuilders in the country, according to the statement. Since 1996, it has completed 40 developments across five states.
Prior to the bankruptcy announcement, Gemcraft faced a number of complaints from consumers.
Thirty one complaints have been filed with the Better Business Bureau since November 2006.
In 2007, the company filed a lawsuit seeking $32 million in damages against a customer who documented his grievances against the company on the Web site, Bewareofgemcraft.com. The Web site has since been taken down.
Representatives from Gemcraft did not respond to requests for comment.
Could New York have already passed its peak? Perhaps not quite. The papers are reporting record bonuses on Wall Street. But the story has an undertone of desperation about it…like the wild parties in Berlin in 1945, just before the Soviet Army arrived. Maybe that’s why the bonuses are so high. Get it while you can! This could be the last hurrah for the US financial industry.
Private sector credit is still contracting. In fact, it’s shrinking faster than at any time in the last 35 years. And this trend is not likely to change. As we keep saying - you’re probably getting tired of hearing it - the private sector has 7 to 15 years of de-leveraging to do. The financial industry will be forced to downsize, along with the economy.
Wall Street’s leveraged debt bombs are still blowing up. Banks are going under. As we reported yesterday, the ’second wave’ of residential mortgage defaults may be just beginning. Commercial real estate debt isn’t far behind…with no Fannie Mae to help the wounded or pick up the dead.
And how about all those private equity deals Wall Street financed? Of the top 10 deals from the bubble years, 6 are in trouble…and 4 have already defaulted.
The idea of private equity was that the hotshots were so smart they could take over a company, re-organize it, restructure it, and sell it back to the public market at a higher price. What they actually did was merely to load up the company with debt - using the money to pay themselves lavish fees.
And as we know…and maybe we alone know it…debt hurts. Run up enough debt and sooner or later bad things will happen. But not necessarily to the borrower!
Right now, the dollar is at a 15-month low. The speculators borrow dollars. Then, it doesn’t matter what they do with them. Everything is going up against the greenback.
But that’s why our Crash Alert flag is flying. Mr. Market doesn’t like it when morons make money. We wouldn’t be at all surprised to see these carry trades go bad in a big, big way. All of a sudden, stocks…bonds…emerging markets…commodities…and even gold…could go down against the dollar. Watch out!
~ Bill Bonner
The Daily Reckoning
“Enjoy the war while you can. The peace is going to be hell.”
- Berlin 1945
All of a sudden, stocks…bonds…emerging markets…commodities…and even gold…could go down against the dollar.
This is from the guy, Bill Bonner who 9 years ago wrote that the “trade of the decade” was to sell the DOW and to buy gold. I listen to him.
But what should I do if I had any gold or didn’t have any? Gold has not moved much against the Brazilian Real for a year. The BRL has increased against the dollar more than any major currency the past year. If gold crashes, the BRL might too. When my Brazilian stuff goes up, my dollar stuff goes down and vice-versa.
If SHTF is there really anywhere to hide for me or anyone?
Tomorrow I’m going to make it a point to enjoy the day no matter how hot it is or if it rains or not.
But I’m not complaining. I’m just saying that sometimes we can only do so much and worry so much.
In the end I am not really in control of as much as I think I am.
Nov. 11 (Bloomberg) — Gold won’t fall below $1,000 an ounce again after rising 27 percent this year to a record as central banks print money to help fund budget deficits, said Marc Faber, publisher of the Gloom, Boom & Doom report.
The precious metal rose to all-time highs in New York and London today as the dollar weakened. The Dollar Index, a gauge of value against six other currencies, has declined 7.9 percent this year and today fell to a 15-month low. News last week of bullion purchases by the Indian and Sri Lankan governments raised speculation that other countries would follow suit.
“We will not see less than the $1,000 level again,” Faber said at a conference today in London. “Central banks are all the same. They are printers. Gold is maybe cheaper today than in 2001, given the interest rates. You have to own physical gold.”
China will keep buying resources including gold, he said.
“Its demand for commodities will go up and up and up,” he added. “Emerging economies will grow at the fastest pace.”
In contrast, Western countries will be lucky to avoid economic contraction, while the Federal Reserve will maintain interest rates near zero percent, he said.
District nixes cash-for-grades fundraiser.
Selling candy didn’t raise much money last year, so a Goldsboro middle school tried selling grades.
However, the fundraiser came to an abrupt halt today after a story in The News & Observer raised concerns about the practice of selling grades.
Wayne County school administrators stopped the fundraiser, issuing a statement this morning.
“Yesterday afternoon, the district administration met with [Rosewood Middle School principal] Mrs. Shepherd and directed the the following actions be taken: (1) the fundraiser will be immediately stopped; (2) no extra grade credit will be issued that may have resulted from donations; and (3) beginning Novermber 12, all donations will be returned.”
A $20 donation to Rosewood Middle School would have gotten a student 20 test points - 10 extra points on two tests of the student’s choosing. That could raise a B to an A, or a failing grade to a D.
Susie Shepherd, the principal, said a parent advisory council came up with the idea, and she endorsed it. She said the council was looking for a new way to raise money.
“Last year they did chocolates, and it didn’t generate anything,” Shepherd said.
Please tell me this came from The Onion.
Unfortunately no. True story.
Buying an Ivy League Education = Costs money = Academic recognition
Buying better Grades = Costs Money = Academic recognition
L.V. housing program hasn’t led to purchases.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — An 8-month-old program aimed at stabilizing Las Vegas Valley neighborhoods by allowing local governments to buy, renovate and then sell homes to low-income families hasn’t resulted in any families moving into homes yet.
The U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department gave Las Vegas Valley municipalities $64.3 million this year to buy homes. The Las Vegas Sun reported Sunday that only five homes been purchased by local governments.
Officials say the primary obstacles hampering local governments in launching the program have been ongoing changes in rules and the volatility of local real estate due to investors suddenly taking interest.
“Generally, funds have been spent much slower than expected,” said Melia Schultzman, who has been monitoring the federal funding from the Oakland office of the National Housing Law Project. “What we’ve heard is that investors are snatching up properties with cash much faster.”
Schultzman said experts are projecting that up to one-third of the 306 state and local governments with neighborhood stabilization funds might miss deadlines, resulting in governments returning unspent money.
Local officials had hoped the millions of dollars would buy hundreds of houses by September of next year. The money also goes to nonprofit organizations involved in buying and renovating homes and helping homebuyers.
I wonder how my ex co-worker’s place in Vegas is holding up. At last word she had acknowledged that if she sold she would take $110,000 less than what she paid for the joint. Hey, Eddie, maybe you could call her and pass along some of your economic optimism. I’m sure she would appreciate it.
10 states face financial peril.
Dropping tax revenue, rising unemployment and yawning budget gaps are wreaking havoc in states from Arizona to Wisconsin, a new report shows.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The same economic pressures that pushed California to the brink of insolvency are wreaking havoc on other states, a new report has found.
And how state officials deal with their fiscal problems could reverberate across the United States, according to the Pew Center on the States’ analysis released Wednesday.
The 10 most troubled states are: Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island and Wisconsin.
Other states — including Colorado, Georgia, Kentucky, New York and Hawaii — were not far behind.
The list is based on several factors, including the loss of state revenue, size of budget gaps, unemployment and foreclosure rates, poor money management practices, and state laws governing the passage of budgets.
I wonder about the red/blue ratio of the states in trouble and why. Maybe on a state level, the red states have done a better job managing their budgets?
I pose this question as a centrist who believes the center of our great country WILL hold. It has to hold…
The developer of the Chicago Spire has fired back against Bank of America Corp.’s lawsuit accusing it of defaulting on a loan and seeking $4.9 million.
Shelbourne Development Group Inc. and its principal, Garrett Kelleher, claim in court papers filed late last month in federal court in Chicago that Bank of America committed fraud and deception in arranging the loan used to start the now-stalled Spire.
While units in what was to be a twisting, 2,000-foot-high tower continue to be listed on the multiple listing service as for sale, the site, at 400 N. Lake Shore Drive, remains a hole in the ground. Many of the firms that worked on the project have filed liens against it. That list includes Spire architect Santiago Calatrava, who is seeking payments of more than $11 million. While in Chicago last month, Calatrava said it was his “personal wish” that the project “was not dead.”
Bank of America sued Shelbourne and Kelleher in mid-August, saying it was owed $4.9 million in a loan personally guaranteed by the Irish developer.
In response, Shelbourne admitted that it did not secure a irrevocable construction loan commitment by Nov. 1, 2008, as it agreed to, but said its inability to do so was temporary. Also, the countersuit states that because it was related to “an unforeseeable and unprecedented economic downturn and recession,” Shelbourne should not be considered in default on the loan.
Shelbourne added that the bank itself has acknowledged the unprecedented, weak economy, “as evidenced by [the bank's] own reliance on $45 billion in federal funds to maintain its business.”
Shelbourne also stated that in April, the bank took the proceeds of a certificate of deposit owned by Shelbourne for more than $3.5 million and applied it to the amount due, an amount that was overstated because Bank of America “intentionally and deceptively” calculated the interest rate based on a 360-day year.
“While units in what was to be a twisting, 2,000-foot-high tower continue to be listed on the multiple listing service as for sale”
I wonder if they’ve sold any lately? Seems it should be illegal to even list the units while the property is tied up in court. I complain about 1% returns on money market accounts, but it would be worse tying up earnest money indefinitely at 0%.
Commercial Real Estate ‘Crisis’ Looming for U.S.
Nov. 11 (Bloomberg) — “A crisis of unprecedented proportions is approaching” in the U.S. commercial real-estate market, according to Randall Zisler, chief executive officer of Zisler Capital Partners LLC.
The CHART OF THE DAY displays quarterly returns on commercial property — apartment buildings, hotels, industrial sites, offices and stores — as compiled by the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries. Returns were negative for the past five quarters, the longest streak since 1992.
Property prices have fallen by 30 percent to 50 percent from their peaks, Zisler estimated yesterday in a report. The plunge has wiped out the equity in most real-estate deals that relied on debt financing since 2005, he wrote.
Zisler, whose firm focuses on real-estate investment, estimated that building owners will default on $500 billion to $750 billion of mortgage debt. This equals as much as 54 percent of the $1.4 trillion in loans that will come due in four years, by his count.
“Much of the debt is likely worth about 50 percent of par, or less,” the report said. Many banks will end up insolvent as they reduce the value of their holdings, he wrote, adding that regional and community lenders are especially vulnerable.
California, in particular, is experiencing a downward spiral in commercial property as prices decline and a growing number of tenants default, Zisler wrote. His analysis was included in Controller John Chiang’s monthly review of the state’s finances.
Small potatoes. Nothing that a couple of hundred billions in bailouts couldn’t fix.
Britons among the “ugliest people”, dating site says.
LONDON (Reuters) - Britons are among the ugliest people in the world, according to a dating website that says it only allows “beautiful people” to join.
Fewer than one in eight British men and just three in 20 women who have applied to BeautifulPeople.com have been accepted, an emailed statement from the website showed.
Existing members of the “elite dating site” rate how attractive potential members are over a 48 hour period, after applicants upload a recent photo and personal profile.
Swedish men have proved the most successful, with 65 percent being accepted, while Norwegian women are considered the most beautiful with 76 percent accepted, the website said.
The way that BeautifulPeople.com accepts new members is simple. A potential member applies with a photo and a brief profile. Over 48 hours, existing members of the opposite sex vote whether or not to admit them, the site said.
Options are: “Yes definitely,” “Hmm yes, O.K,” “Hmm no, not really” and “No definitely not.”
The site was founded in 2002 in Denmark and went live across the globe last month. Since then, the site has rejected nearly 1.8 million people from 190 countries, admitting just 360,000 new members.
“I would say Britain is stumbling because they don’t spend as much time polishing up their appearance and they are letting themselves down on physical fitness,” Beautiful People managing director Greg Hodge said. “Next to Brazilian and Scandinavian beauties, British people just aren’t as toned or glamorous.”
Never been to Scandinavia, but I believe it. Parts of eastern Europe would rate really high as well. Went to Prague a few years ago, and was pretty amazed at all the “beautiful people” there - almost everyone was quite tall, in good physical shape, and attractive.
Britain - not so much.
Italy is the place of extremes - lots of people on both ends of the spectrum.
(if I may generalize)
Prague? Yup, lots of hotties, but too many of them smoke cigarettes.
“Next to Brazilian and Scandinavian beauties, British people just aren’t as toned or glamorous.”
Yeah, but they’re a hell of a lot more fun to have a drink with!
Lift rug, sweep more trash underneath…
Banks are moving quickly to restructure commercial mortgages under new U.S. guidelines that are more forgiving of battered property values and can help banks avoid bigger losses.
Citigroup Inc., regional bank Whitney Holding Corp. and other lenders around the country are planning to review loans now considered nonperforming to determine if they can be reclassified under the guidelines announced Oct. 30 by bank, thrift and credit-union regulators, according to bank executives and people familiar with the matter. The moves could help the banks absorb fewer losses on troubled real-estate loans and preserve capital.
“It’s a positive all the way around,” said James Smith, chief credit officer for National Bank of South Carolina, a unit of Synovus Financial Corp.
Matthew Anderson, partner at research firm Foresight Analytics, estimates that about two-thirds of the $800 billion in commercial real-estate loans held by banks that will mature between now and 2014 are underwater, meaning the loan amount exceeds the value of the property. The flexibility extended by regulators will apply to $110 billion to $130 billion of these loans, he said.
The guidelines are controversial, with critics accusing the U.S. government of prolonging the financial crisis by not forcing borrowers and lenders to confront inevitable problems.
AOL layoffs signal the tip of the iceberg.
AOL is fighting hard to stay relevant in the online world, but the company isn’t immune to layoffs and will ax close to 100 workers this week, according to All Things Digital. Unfortunately, those cuts are just a precursor to larger company-wide layoffs that could leave up to 1,000 staff members without jobs.
The larger layoffs will reportedly come next month, just as AOL becomes independent from Time Warner.
AOL’s revenue was down 23 percent in the third-quarter of 2009. Advertising revenue, which is supposed to be the struggling company’s strong point, fell 18 percent during the quarter.
What’s the big deal? Just stay on unemployment until the big “recovery” next year. It’s less than two months away! Big nanny has it all covered.
The Massachusetts economy will likely lose tens of thousands of jobs before a recovery takes hold next year, economists warned yesterday.
The New England Economic Partnership’s gloomy forecast estimated that the nation’s jobless rate could rise from 10.2 percent to about 10.8 percent by mid-2010, as companies resist rehiring workers as long as possible to make sure a recovery is on solid footing.
In Massachusetts, the jobless rate could jump to a minimum of 9.6 percent from the current 9.3 percent, adding about 65,000 workers to unemployment rolls, the partnership estimated.
The recovery is just around the corner. Where have we heard that one before? We’ve heard it more than once, it’s Uncle Sam’s favorite jawboning technique.
The major premise that almost everyone believes is that government economists can improve the workings of an otherwise free economy. That leads people to believe that the feds have pulled off a save…they’ve now got the economy well along on the road to recovery…the recovery is getting stronger as time goes by…and soon, the feds will begin to exit from their stimulus efforts.
The big question in most investors’ minds is this: how quickly will the feds exit? As long as they keep up their stimulus efforts, investors expect rising prices for everything but the dollar.
Those who think the feds will be able to exit quickly believe growth will come without too much inflation. Those who think the exit will come slowly expect higher rates of inflation.
Well, guess what? The whole premise is false. From top to bottom. From beginning to end. Even the air it breathes is tainted with the smell of fraud and self-delusion.
The theory behind the recovery concept is that government spending and stimulus from the Fed has a “multiplier” effect. That is, the feds spend…the money goes into the economy…and then, the private economy multiplies the spending by growth in consumption and investment of its own. If there were no multiplier effect the whole exercise would be a waste of time, because we know that government spending in itself is a cost to an economy, not a source of real wealth. Government spending, generally, is a drag on prosperity. The Soviet Union proved that. The question remains however, can extra government spending at critical moments “prime the pump” so that it is multiplied by the private sector?
Answer: no.
“Our new research,” writes economist Robert Barro in The Wall Street Journal, “shows no evidence of a Keynesian ‘multiplier’ effect…the available empirical evidence does not support the idea that spending multipliers typically exceed one, and thus spending stimulus programs will likely raise the GDP by less than the increase in government spending.”
Now, we turn to the current situation. Is there any evidence of growth beyond the government’s own stimulus efforts? From what we can see so far, again, the answer is ‘no.’
The premise of recovery/multipliers/growth/and exit is false. We want to bet against it. Tomorrow we’ll talk about how.
Real economists know that there are no secrets. You work hard. You invest carefully. You save your money. That’s the best you can do. There are no multipliers. There are no miracle cures. There are no easy exits from trouble.
That’s why the world has little use for honest economists; they tell you what you don’t want to hear. So, people turn to the phonies…the charlatans…the imposter economists who say “yes we can!”
Trouble is, they can’t.
Bill Bonner
The Daily Reckoning
The pig flu is one giant pant load, “regular” flu kills thousands each year. These f-ing crack pots in D.C. need to shut the hell up. Why not “order” employers to pay if you stub your toe.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When Desiree Rosado’s daughter got the flu last month, she took a week off without pay; just an hour after finally returning to work Rosado had to leave again to take her feverish son home.
A bill proposed by Democratic Senator Chris Dodd would require U.S. employers to provide paid sick leave, helping workers like Rosado and hopefully slowing the spread of swine flu.
“When I don’t get paid, it wreaks havoc on our family budget,” Rosado, an education assistant from Groton, Connecticut, told a Senate subcommittee hearing on Tuesday. “Sometimes we end up having to borrow from our rent money that we set aside.”
Health officials have been urging anyone with flu-like symptoms such as cough and fever to stay home to avoid spreading it.
“Coming down with H1N1 means you have to make a choice either go into work sick and risk infecting co-workers, or stay at home and risk of course losing a day’s pay,” Dodd told a hearing of a health and labor subcommittee he chairs.
Democratic Representative Rosa DeLauro, invited to speak at the hearing, said 57 million Americans do not get paid leave, or even sometimes unpaid leave, to stay home sick or to care for sick relatives.
Dodd said three-quarters of them work in food and service industries and endanger not only co-workers, but the public.
“Food service is not an industry where we want workers showing up with contagious viral infections,” DeLauro added.
So what is wrong with being able to stay home when you are sick? I know , I know, I’ve been in places where people took sick leave to go hunting or vacation. I never did that and only use my sick leave when I’m sick.
I think this lady would benefit from paid leave.
Roidy
P.S. I had the swine flu. It was not fun.
Got Gold?
Barrick shuts hedge book as world gold supply runs out
Global gold production is in terminal decline despite record prices and Herculean efforts by mining companies to discover fresh sources of ore in remote spots, according to the world’s top producer Barrick Gold.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, International Business Editor
Published: 7:20PM GMT 11 Nov 2009
Aaron Regent, president of the Canadian gold giant, said that global output has been falling by roughly 1m ounces a year since the start of the decade. Total mine supply has dropped by 10pc as ore quality erodes, implying that the roaring bull market of the last eight years may have further to run.
“There is a strong case to be made that we are already at ‘peak gold’,” he told The Daily Telegraph at the RBC’s annual gold conference in London.
“Production peaked around 2000 and it has been in decline ever since, and we forecast that decline to continue. It is increasingly difficult to find ore,” he said.
Ore grades have fallen from around 12 grams per tonne in 1950 to nearer 3 grams in the US, Canada, and Australia. South Africa’s output has halved since peaking in 1970.
The supply crunch has helped push gold to an all-time high, reaching $1,118 an ounce at one stage yesterday. The key driver over recent days has been the move by India’s central bank to soak up half of the gold being sold by the International Monetary Fund. It is the latest sign that the rising powers of Asia and the commodity bloc are growing wary of Western paper money and debt.
China has quietly doubled holdings to 1,054 tonnes and is thought to be adding gradually on price dips, creating a market floor. Gold remains a tiny fraction of its $2.3 trillion in foreign reserves.
Gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) – dubbed the “People’s Central Bank” – have accumulated 1,778 tonnes, making them the fifth biggest holder after the US, Germany, France, and Italy.
Peak gold? Lol.
Is this supposed to be a crisis such as peak oil is supposed to be a crisis?
At least oil is consumed in that after it is used up there isn’t anymore.
How is gold “used up”? Isn’t every ounce of gold that has been dug out of the ground over the centuries still in existence in one form or another?
Peak gold? Lol.
Is this supposed to be a crisis such as peak oil is supposed to be a crisis?
I think it would not be a crisis, but not being a crisis would not in itself preclude a crisis level price.
Bubbletalk is what produces a crisis level prices.
Remember a couple of years ago when bubbletalk predicted that the world was going to run out of wheat and was going run out of rice and such talk caused an explosion of grain market prices?
How is gold “used up”? Isn’t every ounce of gold that has been dug out of the ground over the centuries still in existence in one form or another?
Electronics for one thing. I don’t think it’s that economically feasible though to extract it from used electronics.
Also know that the increase of gold in the world - just under 1% per year, is less than the increase in population - just over 1% per year. So even if the amount of gold is increasing - the amount per person is decreasing.
“I don’t think it is economically feasible though to extract it from used electornics.”
But it is economically feasible to extract 3 grams from a tonne of ore as the article states?
Hey gubmint! I thought all you had to do to get mo money was raise taxes on the evil rich, and every damn body else.
Desperate for cash amid the worst fiscal crisis in years, New York State is pursuing tax debtors more aggressively than ever before, doubling the number of cases it is investigating and seeking to collect from delinquents ranging from JPMorgan Chase to an out-of-business convenience store on the Bowery.
The New York Times
The financier Marc S. Dreier is in prison, but the state wants $1.26 million in tax payments from him.
Related
‘On the Brink,’ New York Must Cut, Paterson Says (November 10, 2009)
Warrants have been issued for $1.25 million the state says the apparel maker BCBG Max Azria failed to pay.
Since the start of 2008, the state has filed more than 340,000 tax “warrants,” public notices of delinquency that can make it harder to get loans or sell property and can lead to garnished wages or even forfeiture proceedings. By the end of this year the state’s Department of Taxation and Finance will have filed the largest number of warrants ever in a single year and settled about a million open cases, the most in state history.
States across the country, strapped by plummeting revenues, are undertaking similar efforts, backed by improved disclosure laws and new technologies that allow them to more easily find delinquents. In Illinois, officials have started a pilot program using Internal Revenue Service databases to uncover sophisticated tax-avoidance schemes that use trusts and partnerships to hide income. In Minnesota and Georgia, enforcement officials have stepped up so-called residency audits, combing property and voting records to find people who live in the state but claim residence elsewhere to avoid state taxes.
Yep, cash is king.
The king seems to be losing his grip.
What in the he double sticks took them so long to do this?
“he double sticks”?
When I was a kid it was ‘”7734″.
Course if the fiefdoms are still funneling beaucoup bucks to special interests it doesn’t really matter how much we collect. You still have the problem of spending more than you collect. Personally, I want to see long published lists of waste eliminated before I see anyone’s taxes increased.
It’s difficult to know how much overlap there is among the wealthy in those two approaches.
The soldier, above all other men, is required to practice the greatest act of religious training — sacrifice…
In battle and in the face of danger and death, he discloses those divine attributes which his Maker gave when he created man in his own image. No physical courage and no brute instinct can take the place of the Divine help which alone can sustain him.
Others will debate the controversial issues, national and international, which divide men’s minds; but serene, calm, aloof, you stand as the Nation’s war-guardian, as its lifeguard from the raging tides of international conflict, as its gladiator in the arena of battle. For a century and a half you have defended, guarded, and protected its hallowed traditions of liberty and freedom, of right and justice.
Let civilian voices argue the merits or demerits of our processes of government; whether our strength is being sapped by deficit financing, indulged in too long, by federal paternalism grown too mighty, by power groups grown too arrogant, by politics grown too corrupt, by crime grown too rampant, by morals grown too low, by taxes grown too high, by extremists grown too violent; whether our personal liberties are as thorough and complete as they should be. These great national problems are not for your professional participation or military solution. Your guidepost stands out like a ten-fold beacon in the night: Duty, Honor, Country.
You are the leaven which binds together the entire fabric of our national system of defense. From your ranks come the great captains who hold the nation’s destiny in their hands the moment the war tocsin sounds. The Long Gray Line has never failed us. Were you to do so, a million ghosts in olive drab, in brown khaki, in blue and gray, would rise from their white crosses thundering those magic words: Duty, Honor, Country.
This does not mean that you are war mongers.
On the contrary, the soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war.
But always in our ears ring the ominous words of Plato, that wisest of all philosophers: “Only the dead have seen the end of war.”
The shadows are lengthening for me. The twilight is here. My days of old have vanished, tone and tint. They have gone glimmering through the dreams of things that were. Their memory is one of wondrous beauty, watered by tears, and coaxed and caressed by the smiles of yesterday. I listen vainly, but with thirsty ears, for the witching melody of faint bugles blowing reveille, of far drums beating the long roll. In my dreams I hear again the crash of guns, the rattle of musketry, the strange, mournful mutter of the battlefield.
But in the evening of my memory, always I come back to West Point.
Always there echoes and re-echoes: Duty, Honor, Country.
Today marks my final roll call with you, but I want you to know that when I cross the river my last conscious thoughts will be of The Corps, and The Corps, and The Corps.
I bid you farewell.
Gen. Douglas MacArthur, who addressed West Point cadets on May 12, 1962:
In memory of my father, who as a 17 year old Marine landed on Iwo Jima, to offer his body as a living sacrifice for freedom, thanks to all veterans.
You might think owlgore would carry these poor folks with all his “global warming” bucks, but noooo, hit the bricks. lol!
Current Media, a cable television company co-founded by former US vice president Al Gore, announced Wednesday that it is cutting 80 jobs as part of a reorganization.
The layoffs, which will leave Current with some 300 employees worldwide, come seven months after the San Francisco-based startup shelved plans for a 100-million-dollar initial public offering, citing market conditions.
In a statement on Wednesday, Current said it was canceling several television programs and shifting the focus of its programming away from short-form content to longer formats.
“As a result of these cancellations, and the shift away from a reliance on daily in-house production, Current Media eliminated 80 positions worldwide associated with the affected programs and related support personnel,” it said.
Mikey, exeter, Sammy, and other veterans on this blog, thank you from a veteran.
* The Wall Street Journal
* OPINION
* NOVEMBER 11, 2009, 7:38 P.M. ET
The Fed’s Woody Allen Policy
Efforts to stoke a recovery may be creating new asset bubbles in equities and elsewhere.
By JUDY SHELTON
In the Woody Allen film “Annie Hall,” the main character tries to explain irrational relationships by recounting an old joke. “This guy goes to a psychiatrist and says, ‘My brother’s crazy, he thinks he’s a chicken.’ The doctor says, ‘Well, why don’t you turn him in?’ And the guy says, ‘I would, but I need the eggs.’”
It takes similar reasoning to reconcile the elation felt across America every time the stock market rises—partially replenishing personal investment portfolios and 401(k) retirement plans—with the uneasy feeling that we are being set up for yet another big financial disappointment. We dare to hope that the economy is growing solidly once more, that the Federal Reserve has superior knowledge about providing liquidity, and that the U.S. Treasury knows what it’s doing by guaranteeing money market-fund assets.
But what if the Fed’s efforts to stoke a recovery are merely creating asset bubbles in equities and elsewhere? What if government guarantees—explicit and implicit—are encouraging high-risk investment behavior rather than restoring conditions for normal market returns? What if excess dollars produced here are being channeled by speculators into foreign stock and bond markets as part of a currency play?
The Fed’s decision last week to keep pumping out money at near-zero interest rates is worrisome. In its statement, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) notes that “low rates of resource utilization” are the main justification for continuing to make funds available to banks at “exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate for an extended period”—by which it means that banks can continue to borrow at 0%-0.25% and then lend the money out to borrowers seeking to earn much higher returns. The FOMC cites “subdued inflation trends” and “stable inflation expectations” as reassuring evidence that money is not being created in excess.
…
Potential upside for out of work husbands: Chances increase that your wife will start pulling her share of the workload outside of the home (and you most likely can keep free riding off her superior housekeeping skills…)
* JOURNAL WOMEN
* NOVEMBER 12, 2009
In Downturn’s Wake, Women Hold Half of U.S. Jobs
Households That Could Afford to Have One Spouse Stay Home Find Roles Upended by Layoffs in Male-Dominated Industries
By KELLY EVANS
Jeff and Vicki Grenz celebrated their 25th anniversary on Sept. 12, 2007. The date marked another milestone for the California couple: Ms. Grenz went back to work.
After giving birth to the second of four children, Ms. Grenz, now 47 years old, stopped working as a campaign consultant full time in 1993. “Every time I had a big meeting or had to go out of town, someone had an ear infection,” she said. So Mr. Grenz supported the family through his business as a custom home builder, while his wife stayed home.
Bittersweet Gains
Steep layoffs and soaring unemployment among men underlie women’s new position on the cusp on the majority of the work force.
The recession and real-estate collapse have taken that option away from women such as Ms. Grenz who could afford not to work during the boom. Thanks to steep layoffs and soaring unemployment among men, more women are returning to the work force.
While Ms. Grenz had taken on occasional campaign consulting projects over the years, she hadn’t planned on re-entering the work force so soon. “I always assumed I would go back, just not when I had a toddler at home,” said Ms. Grenz, whose youngest was 2 years old when a sharp slowdown in her husband’s home-building work sent her back to work two years ago as a community-relations manager for a local engineering firm.
…
We Have Fannie and Freddie; Is Feddie Next?
by: John Mason November 11, 2009
Will the Federal Reserve System join the ranks of other government public supported agencies like Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE)?
One could argue that they are on the verge of such ignominy.
Never before has the Federal Reserve been under such attack and from all sides. The attacks have gotten so severe that the subject even made the front page of the New York Times today. (See “Under Attack, Fed Chief Studies Politics”) The legislative attack on the Fed continues with the new proposals on financial regulation coming from the Senate Banking Committee. (See “Senate Democrats Seek Sweeping Curbs on Fed”)
Certainly the leadership of the Federal Reserve seems to be deserving of this scorn. Henry Kaufman states bluntly that, “there is the Fed’s legacy of its inability to limit past financial excesses. By failing to be an effective guardian of our financial system, it has lost credibility.” (See, “The Real Threat to Fed Independence”)
Of course, Alan Greenspan gets his share of the blame for “keeping interest rates too low for too long in the early years of this decade”; for his failure to understand the changes in the financial markets coming from financial innovation; and for his role in the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act.
But, Ben Benanke must also bear his share of the blame in the decline of Fed credibility. He was Greenspan’s co-conspirator, serving on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System during the 2002 to 2005 period in which the Federal Funds Rate was kept below 2.00% from the time he joined the Board until November 2004. For much of the time, this Fed Funds rate was around 1.00%. Bernanke was a strong defender of keeping the rates so low, both in terms of economic analysis and speeches.
…
So long as the Fed’s printing press is in good working order, I am inclined to ignore worry-mongering gloomsters like Mr Fink. What will stop them from propping up housing prices forever, if that is a central part of their policy objective? They can print the money, and can use it to buy whatever they want, right?
P.S. BTW, what in the Fed’s mandate authorizes them to attempt to “fix” the housing market (especially if “the rescue” involves price fixing with freshly-printed liquidity)?
* The Wall Street Journal
* WRITING ON THE WALL
* NOVEMBER 12, 2009
Cracks in the Foundation of the Fed’s Housing Fix
A Wall Street power broker worries about what happens when government aid ends
* By DAVID WEIDNER
We all know the government can’t run anything.
It’s not good at running the nation’s retirement plan. Its passenger rail system seems to be perennially in trouble. If the post office were doing such a bang up job, how then would one explain the rise of FedEx and United Parcel Service?
In the latest Viewpoints Breakfast series, Laurence Fink, Chairman and CEO of BlackRock Inc. talk about the role of regulation coming out of the recession and in the future, with Alan Murray.
And when it comes to creating efficient health care, let’s just say “hoping for a miracle” is not a tried-and-true business plan.
Until recently, the same was true when it came to the housing and mortgage markets. Missteps by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Congress and the Federal Reserve helped create the mortgage bubble.
But during the last 18 months, a funny thing happened. The government accomplished what it set out to do. Uncle Sam’s extraordinary efforts to prop up the financial markets, the mortgage market in particular, pretty much have worked. Housing prices in most places have stabilized. Home loans are being made to qualified borrowers, not at the bubble-era pace, but at a healthy rate that has deals getting done.
‘Bigger Than Systemic Risk’
The bad news, as Laurence Fink sees it, is that this perhaps unexpected success will put the country in a lurch next year, when the government’s efforts to lift the mortgage market disappear. In the next six to 12 months, the Federal Reserve will end its mortgage-buying program and Fannie and Freddie will max out the $200 billion in funds set aside to buy mortgages and cover losses — and then begin shrinking their balance sheets.
And it’s not just mortgages, other programs aimed at reviving markets, will suffer without the government. There are fewer, less leveraged institutions and the Fed has taken Wall Street’s place in the mortgage market. The lack of an active private market might be a bigger problem than systemic risk, Mr. Fink said Tuesday at The Wall Street Journal’s Viewpoints interview series.
“Where will the capital come from to finance America next year,” he wondered aloud. “We’ve not heard any debate on that.”
…
I suggest the “toothless” part is the key feature of Dudd’s plan. The part about spaying the Fed is just a sideshow to the real purpose, which is to maintain too-big-to-fail financial entities in order to keep the campaign finance cash flowing.
Dodd Pay Plan Called Toothless as Bonuses Set Record (Update1)
By Ian Katz and Jesse Westbrook
Nov. 11 (Bloomberg) — Senator Christopher Dodd’s plan to overhaul financial regulation may do little to curb pay as Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s investment bank prepare to award record bonuses.
A bill introduced yesterday by the Senate Banking Committee chairman would give shareholders of publicly traded firms a non- binding vote on executive pay, grant investors more power to nominate board members and require that companies allow pay to be clawed back, or recouped, if it was based on inaccurate financial statements.
“For the most part it’s pretty hollow, a toothless tiger,” said Paul Dorf, managing director of Compensation Resources Inc., a pay consulting firm based in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. Dodd’s measure needs more penalties if the rules aren’t followed, Dorf said yesterday in an interview.
Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s investment bank will hand out a combined $29.7 billion in bonuses, according to analysts’ estimates. That’s up 60 percent from last year and more than the previous high of $26.8 billion in 2007. The companies are the biggest banks to exit the U.S. Troubled Asset Relief Program.
…
Many long-time posters on this blog can attest to the folly of Mr Fink’s assertion:
On whether we’re in a new financial bubble. “Bubbles don’t occur when you talk about them. There are just too many articles about this liquidity bubble.”