Bits Bucket for June 24, 2011
Post off-topic ideas, links, and Craigslist finds here.
The Housing Bubble
Examining the home price boom and its effect on owners, lenders, regulators, realtors and the economy as a whole.
About Me
Name:Ben Jones
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
To donate by mail, or to otherwise contact this blogger, please send emails to: thehousingbubble@gmail.com
PayPal is a secure online payment method which accepts ALL major credit cards.
Links
-
April 2025 M T W T F S S « Sep 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Photo Submission: hbbphotos@gmail.com
View the HBB Photo Gallery *updated 4/13/2008
Watching the BBC World News this AM on PBS
~EU to Greece: “There is no plan B”
~Greece to EU will introduce new austerity measures next week.
~U.S. Tells Greece “To get it’s house in order”
~ Next up Spain and Italy trouble on the horizon.
It is really funny to hear us tell any other country “to get it’s house in order”. We are the kings of a disorderly household.
Keep on printing, that will fix it.
~U.S. Tells Greece “To get it’s house in order”
Now here’s an example of the pot calling the kettle black.
I don’t know if anyone here has been paying all that much attention but this Great Contraction thingy of ours is the result of the U.S. “getting its house in order”.
Not by choice, perhaps, but it doesn’t matter if it’s by choice or not.
Charles McKay was right, people go mad in herds and they regain their senses one by one.
And when the numbers of those who have regained their senses begin to greatly outnumber the ones who are still mad then this Getting Our House In Order business will really get rolling.
IMHO.
+1
reduction in the size of our govt will happen one way or the other
Bug bye subsidies to the lazy. Bring on the cuts! Even if it takes my job we need to significantly cut the size and scope of government and keep what is constitutional. $100s of billions of yearly savings. Ron Paul is correct.
Bug bye subsidies to the lazy. Bring on the cuts! Even if it takes my job
Bill,
You just admitted you were a “parasite” - indirectly a “moocher” on the government’s teat. Whatever. This self hate thing has gotta stop. You’ve insulted way too many of your fellow Americans because of it.
Bug bye, Rio
I do get income from constitutional government spending. Yet defense spending must be cut substantially. Not cut to zero. Socialists such as you do not see any difference between foodstamps for the lazy and spending on defense. I am wasting time arguing with a socialist.
$100s of billions of yearly savings. Ron Paul is correct.
What’s past is prologue:
Cheney-Shrub U$ Legacy eCONomic$ Shadow Effect$ #1: “Mi$$ion Accomplished!”
Antomo:
. . . Who’s the next heir of Naples?
Sebastian:
Claribel.
Antonio:
She that is Queen of Tunis; she that dwells
Ten leagues beyond man’s life; she that from Naples
Can have no note, unless the sun were post—
The Man i’ th’ Moon’s too slow—till new-born chins
Be rough and razorable; she that from whom
We all were sea-swallow’d, though some cast again
(And by that destiny) to perform an act
Whereof what’s past is prologue; what to come,
In yours and my discharge.
The Tempest Act 2, scene 1, 245–254
I do get income from constitutional government (defense) spending.bill in Phoenix and Tampa
Rationalize it if you need to but according to your worldview you are a “moocher” on the government’s teat. You are the same person you belittle. I am sorry but you are. Maybe you’re not ready for this, maybe not able to handle it well or admit it but I’m going to explain something that you’re not going to like. I’m going to do it because it’s true and because you smugly call name and belittle hard working Americans on a regular basis.
You say you “get income from constitutional government (defense) spending” but on the same day you laud your hero Ron Paul. Well let me tell you something Bill. Ron Paul does not consider most of our defense spending constitutional at all. That’s right Bill. Your libertarian hero Ron Paul has for years described most of our military’s actions overseas and by extension, most of our military spending as unconstitutional. Flat out unconstitutional. Period.
This is a fact you can’t run from. Either you are a libertarian or not and if you are a libertarian and you respect the opinion of Ron Paul (which you say you do) then you must realize that your source of income is not mostly honorable nor even constitutional. If you don’t admit this, your whole libertarian identity is a sham, a lie.
So you see Bill, according to your own view, most of your indirect government pay is being “stolen” from my hard earned productive wages and going to a “moocher” like you, and going unconstitutionally.
Think this out logically - like an engineer should be able to. Although you won’t admit it here, you will know that I am right. I am sorry. You are who you scoff, mock and belittle.
“…according to your worldview you are a “moocher” on the government’s teat”
Don’t hate the player, hate the game. I don’t agree with 100% of what my company does, but I still cash my paycheck. I don’t blame Bill for sucking on the government’s teat and I expect that he won’t cry foul if/when that teat is taken away from him.
Can we have more comments about teats?
I don’t blame Bill for sucking on the government’s teat
I blame his horrible attitude towards many down and out, and wanting to be hard-working Americans. And I blame his constant arrogant, smug hypocrisy.
If you don’t admit this, your whole libertarian identity is a sham, a lie.
“The basis of drama is ….the struggle of the hero towards a specific goal at the end of which he realizes that what kept him from it was, in the lesser drama, civilization and, in the great drama, the discovery of something that he did not set out to discover but which can be seen retrospectively as inevitable. The example Aristotle uses, of course, is Oedipus.”
David Mamet
Tell me Bill the Nomad, what would you say if this government contraction has started 15 years ago, and you lost your job when you were 35 instead of 50? That is, BEFORE you amassed the wealth that you so love to show off to the rest of us on a weekly basis?
Would you be as cavalier?
What advice would you give to a 35-year-old who was just laid off? And I don’t mean the 35 year-old welfare mama with the 4 kids and the flatscreen. I mean the 35-year-old college grad with a technical degree and a young family.
Because that’s what is happening.
Seems to me Bill is most likely in his highest earning years, so his realization that even his job must go if that is what it takes seems honorable to me. 5 years ago we were not at this point.
Fact is The big three must ALL be substantially cut.
Defense, Social Security and Medicare. Yeah I know - get your mitts of MY money and I paid in etc, but the fact is very few on Social Security paid in close to what they take. And our role as world police man at close to a half trillion a year?
“bye subsidies to the lazy. Bring on the cuts! Even if it takes my job”
I think what Bill does not see is how close he is to being one of the “lazy” who need subsidies. The wealth he has amassed can be easily inflated away. The health he works hard to preserve can be gone in an instant of madness by some hungry soul or plain bad luck on the highway.
Or maybe he does and is mentally prepared for it. Drumminj seems to be ready to face ill fortune.
Contraction? Yes.
In order? Keep dreaming.
~U.S. Tells Greece “To get it’s house in order”
Good luck w/that one!
Athens, Greece (CNN) — Greek unions have declared a 48-hour general strike next week to protest new austerity measures set to be voted on by the Greek Parliament, one of Greece’s biggest umbrella unions told CNN on Thursday.
http://www.anhourago.co.uk/show.aspx?l=8550595&d=501
It’s hard to say how many Americans are watching as we launch into our summer vacation period. But we are getting some nice public experiment results of how effective the protest technique is when the numbers are right.
OK, something doesn’t add up. I’ve listened to some economists say that the US has to spend it’s way out of this recession. It goes like this:
‘David Callahan, co-founder of Demos: ‘Most analysts suggest that if there hadn’t been the stimulus we would have much higher unemployment than we now have,” he say. “We have to do another round of stimulus otherwise this [9.1%] unemployment is going to go on and on and it’s going to go on because companies are not hiring — they are not hiring because there is no consumer demand — there is not consumer demand because the middle class is tapped out. They don’t have any money.”
But other countries must shape up and cut the fat, etc. So, does Keynesian policy stop at the US border? It only works here? Me confused, Keynesians, please explain.
Keep in mind the Keynesians are both corrupt political parties. Tax cuts are Keynesian.
‘the Keynesians are both corrupt political parties’
Well obviously the people in DC think the money tree will always be there. Who was it that said, “Reagan proved deficits don’t matter”?
I’m seriously asking. Why do we tolerate any economic downturn? If this stuff works, why don’t we just use helicopters and drop bails of money out all over the country? Fix every road, build schools, public works. Why doesn’t Greece do the same? I don’t understand, if all that’s needed is govt spending, why isn’t this a universal mega-policy?
Perhaps Greece is more akin to a state in the United States, rather than a sovereign currency, as it cannot print money, as uses Euros.
The US not only can print money, it can print the world’s reserve currency.
So - it will take a lot of currency debauching before the buying power - the value - of the dollar collapses. Hardcore “spend our way out’ers” believe that the line is very far off, as it would take a lot of bureaucratic changes in the world to wean itself off the dollar.
So how do these factors combine to
“Why do we tolerate any economic downturn?”
If the Fed had followed Keynes, as opposed to Friedman et al, we would not have had a dotcom bubble nor a RE bubble nearly as large as we had.
No one ever took away the punch bowl- a key component of Keynesian theory. Make that THE key component.
But I agree, it’s a system that requires adults to be in charge. Not kids full of dorm-room philosophy about the perfection of supposedly free markets.
Just because economists says that X is the way to get out of a recession doesn’t mean that bankers will agree that doing X is the best way for them to get their money back.
The economists that I have been reading about Greece say that the best way for Greece to get out of trouble is to default on its debt and get the heck out of the Euro so it can have a largely devalued currency. This leads to comparatively cheaper exports and growth. That does not get the bankers what they want, so, of course, they are not advocating it.
The central European bankers aren’t advocating austerity for Greece because it is good for Greece. They are advocating austerity for Greece because it is good for them and the other bankers (German, French, etc.) who own Greek debt. Not the same people. Not the same incentives. Not the same recommendations.
Of course, in the US, we can’t let out currency devalue (comparatively) to make our exports more competative either, but it is because China won’t let the Yuan rise to its appropriate level.
Though I don’t disagree with Polly, I think it’s because the Germans and the French (and the rest of the Eurozone) want to end the suckers game as soon as possible while sending the “you bought it you paid for it” message.
The suckers game I refer is the line of falling dominos that a default would bring. The slowest country to default would be the sucker.
I also don’t doubt that the Eurozone (a larger GDP that the US when all combined I believe) is subtling aiming that message at the US as well.
If the Germans and the French wanted to end this as soon as possible, they wouldn’t be demanding austerity in exchange for a bailout for Greece. They would be refusing to help Greece no matter what the government agreed to do. There is a much shorter path to the endgame than the one they are currently taking.
Of course, as pointed out yesterday, that path leads to completely unknown results because we have no idea where the credit default swap exposure is buried. But if they were looking to end this, no bailout gets you there faster than austerity bailouts.
I don’t think they have exact timelines for ending it, they just don’t want it to end with a country defaulting on it’s debts. Therefore, bailout with punishment (austerity) is the plan.
Bailouts of the type they are considering are effective for liquidity problems. My understanding is that Greece has a solvency problem, not a liquidity one (though I haven’t checked the numbers myself). The solutions that are being offered won’t solve that problem.
Narcissistic personality disorder is a condition in which people have an inflated sense of self-importance and an extreme preoccupation with themselves.
Apparently a whole country can suffer from this disorder.
I’m a locknesian and I feel locked out
I’d also like an explanation of how they ever thought it was going to work when we neglected the saving during flush economic times part.
Bit it did work. Wall Street has never had to not pay bonuses.
“… there is no consumer demand because the middle class is tapped out. They don’t have any money.”
And if they did have money then they would buy things that are manufactured Somewhere Else.
Workers would benifit from consumer spending, the problem is these workers are located Somewhere Else. Until those things that are bought here are made here the problem of consumers not having any money will go on and on.
It’s not just the supply of money that counts, it’s the recycling of money, the turnover of the stuff. Money that immediately leaves for Somewhere Else doesn’t recycle here, it recycles Somewhere Else.
Spending here benifits those who live Somewhere Else. Increase the spending here and people living Somewhere Else reap the benifits.
And as long as goods are produced “Somewhere Else” there will be no recovery.
What if you just send IOUs and never repay them? Then who reaps the benefits? I’m not sure if anybody does in the end.
“It’s not just the supply of money that counts, it’s the recycling of money, the turnover of the stuff.”
Hence the need for a progressive tax system, that removes money pooled in the pockets of the wealthy and returns it to the pockets of the rest of us, so it can begin its journey back to the pockets of the wealthy.
That’s how a healthy capitalist system works, as has been shown historically. Without it, the system breaks down and ends in communism, fascism, or some other -ism.
Me confused, Keynesians, please explain.
Keynesian econ, roughly, encourages that governments borrow in bad times and pay back the debt in good times.
1980: bad times. Reagan borrowed and staved off the Russians. It was a decaded of defense jobs, tax cuts, and bad synthesizer music from Britain.
2000: good times. Decades of government funded R&D had produced results in medicine, engineering, and especially computers and IT. Lots in jobs created by the Internet and increases in productivity in the roaring 90’s. Did our government continue to pay back our debt, as Keynesian econ would dictate? HELL NO! They cut taxes and said deficits didn’t matter.
And btw Ben, how does Keynesian economics address outsourcing?
Please Oxide, when has the U.S. Government ever cut back in good times?
You don’t have to actually cut back - which, as Dan points out, politicians seem to find too hard, though we should expect better of them. You just have to not increase spending to match the increased revenue from growth. Clinton sort of did this though it was partially through increased taxes on the high end. We were on our way to a balanced budget because there was increased revenue from higher marginal tax rates on the wealthy and increased revenue from an economic boom. We didn’t get a chance to see how that would have played out longer term, but the process had started.
Thanks Polly.
And hey, a-dan, Carter cut back on energy costs by putting on a sweater. He was tarred and feathered for it.
What we need to do is cut back on helping other countries, as in, stop sending them jobs.
They cut back at the end of WWII.
Oxide, Obama had an advantage that Reagan never had. He came in with his party controlling both houses of Congress with large majorities.
So (1) if he was against outsourcing why did he not prevent it before he lost one house. (2) if he was for taxes on the rich why did he not pass a tax increase on them during his first year? (3) if he really wanted a new energy direction why didn’t he force a carbon tax during his first year?
I don’t know why the left continues to defend him. He has the political capital to get these passed during his first year but he did not. He has been a weak leader for his own policies. He would not have lost the House had his policies worked. Reagan did not get his entire agenda but I disagree with Ben that he did not get some of it and he did it without having the House. (Tax cuts, regulation cuts, defense build up etc.)
My problem with Keynes (spend in bad times, save in good times) is that our gov’t changes pretty dramatically every 4 to 8 years, so that has to be the timeline that economic actions work in. The tool that doesn’t match human nature is not a useful tool.
Keynesian policy may work in China and Venezuela where the rulers rule for longer periods of time, but is just not very well suited to the US, where Congress controls economic policy.
I guess we could put our over-arching economic policy in charge of the Supreme Economists, who rule until they die.
Oxide, Obama had an advantage that Reagan never had.
I agree with a lot of your post but Obama had that advantage you mentioned but he did not have more advantages than Reagan.
1. Reagan was not HATED with a passion by a good chunk of the population because he he was black or a “commie” or a “Muslim” or a “Indonesian” or “Hitler” or whatever nutjob label he was given. These haters changed Obama’s influence in the congress and especially the Senate and btw in Reagan’s day the filibuster was not used nearly as often as it is today.
3. Although in a great recession in 1981 the USA still had a very large industrial base to rebound with and there was not the outsourcing of white collar jobs as there is today. We had a much more viable economic base.
4. The recession today is much more of a structural one than the more cyclical recession that Reagan faced.
(I know I forgot #2. I don’t like #2)
“My problem with Keynes (spend in bad times, save in good times) is that our gov’t changes pretty dramatically every 4 to 8 years, so that has to be the timeline that economic actions work in.
You can say the same thing about austerity, or Austrian school, or monetarism, or any theory or movement or idea whatsoever in any democracy. If you know of an alternative, please let us in on it. (A more independent Fed? No limits on presidential terms? Longer congressional terms?)
He came in with his party controlling both houses of Congress with large majorities.
NO HE DID NOT.
Stop repeating this talking point. He had 55 votes in the Senate and 5 wishy washy Dems from red states who were more lik Eisenhower Republicans than Dems.
The Dem-controlled House passed something like 400 bills that were never addressed by the Senate.
The few that got to the Senate were filibustered by 40 Republicans votes. Chief among them was a bill to “stop the ourtsourcing,” as ecofeco reminds us daily. Another was a bill to cut taxes on those individuals making under $250K a year, while raising taxes on the rich back to the INSANE rates in the evil days of Clinton.
The two major bills that got through the Senate were 1) Pieces of Obamacare, which was “shoved down our throats” with 55 or so votes,* and 2) Dodd-Frank financial reform, which was blessed only by the good sense of retiring Senator George Voinivich.
Obama did a LOT of work to pass those bills into law in the face of the lockstep Senate caucus which hates hie guts.
—————
*Incidentally, that procedure which “shoved” the evil Obamacare down our throats is the exact same procedure which shoved the Bush tax cuts down our throats. So quit whining.
Polly
I so totally agree with you. You have recognized the higher level theory of new fixed spending. I would like to take it one step further - timing. Keynes does not recognize a fixed term optimum repayment ! Nor does it recognize cumulative interest on bond funding ! A lot of “new fixed spending” comes from these two drivers (a.) timing is not an absolute in a recession / depression and (b.) cumulative interest becomes payable and has been rolled over in new bonds.
Govs have been able to mask their ability to spend without question in the past because of short term recessions. But they still only rolled their debt over.
Typical - gov uses an economic principal and forgets the second half of it.
I wish we would get away from Voodoo economics and get with some marketing principles like say - Blue Ocean Strategy etc. We can market just as good as anyone in the world - why aren’t we? Why are we letting others take our markets?
Band Aids are not designed to cure - only allow a more stable short period for recovery. That is all Keynes was thinking of.
Tax cuts are for the other person.
I think we need to learn the lesson we learned from fighting every forest fire no matter how small. What we learned if you fight every fire you cause a build up of material that can cause a massive devastating fire at the crown instead of the bottom of the tree.
Similarly, the present problem is by creating the federal reserve and the use of the policies created by Keynes. We have created a situation where we try to fight every downturn and never have the created destruction caused by the milder downturns. Both the great depression and the great recession happened after the creation of the Federal Reserve and its manipulation of money. Seems like we were better off when the economy was allowed to go through its cycles, without government interference.
Need my coffee: The present problem is CAUSED.
BTW, Oxide, Reagan was a Keynesian? I don’t know of any economists that would describe him as such. Seems like the only two times that people can point to for support of Keynesian theories are WWII and now the Reagan defense build up. Seems like an argument for military spending not Keynes. Although I will say this for Keynes he was a good stock trader. I hear that Marx was horrible.
The bottom line is that Obama’s stimulus which was far greater than anything done before and it did not work. Spending for spending sake does not help the economy in the long run although it can give a sugar high followed by a crash. I think this goes back to my NGV argument. I am not a purist on government spending. Things like the Erie canal, railroads, Interstate highway system, Internet etc worked because they helped productivity in the private sector. If Obama had used more of the stimulus for things close to be commercially viable it might have worked. NGV are an example of this. Using NG means the fuel money stays in this country and drilling jobs create work for blue collar workers and everyone benefits from the increased tax revenue. While not completely free from environmental problems NG is cleaner. But the perfect became the enemy of the good and this was not supported but technologies far from commercial viability were pushed and just like Spain the jobs disappear when the government spigot is cut off. At about $150 a barrel oil some of the alternative energy sources become viable without government support but Obama’s dilemma is how do you get there without destroying the economy.
‘Reagan was a Keynesian? I don’t know of any economists that would describe him as such.’
If you can find Reagans’ “My First 100 Days” piece you’ll see he didn’t do one thing he promised. Long ago I read that each party puts policies in place that their opponents would never get away with. The one in power grows govt, the public is whip-sawed into a reaction, and the other side comes in promising reform, only to charge off in another direction that results in more govt.
That we are still arguing about Reagan shows how silly the whole thing has become.
The bottom line is that Obama’s stimulus which was far greater than anything done before and it did not work.
I’m sure it somewhat worked.
Things like the Erie canal, railroads, Interstate highway system, Internet etc worked because they helped productivity in the private sector. If Obama had used more of the stimulus for things close to be commercially viable it might have worked.
That would have worked better.
Seems like an argument for military spending not Keynes.
Ha, this all sounds sooooooooooooooo economically complicated.
You have a 5 gallon bucket 7/8 full. Your water supply faucet for the bucket is spouting out at just a trickle. You have some small leaks, but no matter, you only have to go 50 steps to put the water into your hi$$ing at a low-level radiator which is hampering you forward progre$$. As you walk along, you take out a 44 caliber sidearm and blast x2 hole$ into your bucket. (These bullets are named: War I Afghanistan & War II Iraq) When you reach the end of your 50 steps you marvel at how little water remains in your bucket,…your temper raises, you get angry and yell at Aunt B & lil’ Opie and even the cow$ blankly starring at you chewing$ there curd.
“BTW, Oxide, Reagan was a Keynesian? ”
He used deficit spending to get us out of a recession. In that sense he was a classic Keynesian- there is absolutely no reason that military spending is not considered Keynesian, unless you have been taught economics by Rush and Glen Beck.
<”Things like the Erie canal, railroads, Interstate highway system, Internet etc worked because they helped productivity in the private sector.”
You’re right.
Too bad every single red state rejected the billions in high speed rail development funds that Obama was trying to give them.
Why yes, you CAN google that.
Good thing our current high speed rail is still better than Europe’s and China’s.
Oh wait…
Too bad every single red state rejected the billions in high speed rail development funds that Obama was trying to give them.
Just curious, would high speed rail help red states? I can see why they might not support it simply based on figuring they’d never see anything from it.
Just curious, would high speed rail help red states? I can see why they might not support it simply based on figuring they’d never see anything from it.
A high-speed rail line between Phoenix and Tucson (in the sunburned red state of Arizona) sure would be nice.
“Just curious, would high speed rail help red states? I can see why they might not support it simply based on figuring they’d never see anything from it.”
You mean like the interstate? Or any other infrastructure?
For each state alone, it was estimated that 20,000 jobs would have been created directly connected to building. About double the number for ancillary support.
Sure, those are just estimates and probably optimistic ones at that. But even if you halve those figures, that’s still a lot of jobs.
As for economic benefits, firs there is the free money from the government. Immediate benefit to the state right there. Near term, that money gets circulated throughout the state. Long term is a high speed transportation system to compete with air and AS vulnerable to weather that is also more energy efficient.
But the reds states rejected the funds and basically threw their citizens under the bus just to make Obama look bad. But the very same citizens who are going to vote again for the very same politicians who screwed them because they blame Obama.
You can’t fix that kind of stupid.
Yeah, but what are the odds of that? Doesn’t seem like it would be nice for nearly enough people to justify the cost…?
You mean like the interstate? Or any other infrastructure?
For each state alone, it was estimated that 20,000 jobs would have been created directly connected to building. About double the number for ancillary support.
Are you saying they’re going to build high speed rail across the red states like they did with the interstates? I hadn’t heard that…
“Me confused, Keynesians, please explain.”
Channelling my inner Keynes. What I believe his reaction would have been:
“OMG! How did you ever, like, let things get this f’ed up? I mean, seriously, trillions in debt? You let the bankers get away with what? You are soooo screwed. I’m outta here.”
I may not have got the vernacular right.
They are not hiring because they fear a bond market revolt if the US doesn’t fix our own debt problem.
If the US were to put itself on a more sustainable path, lots of people/entities, etc. would start to feel better about making long term decisions (capital investment, hiring, etc.).
If the government pumps money into the economy, but that money simply goes into the bank, is it stimulative?
“If the government pumps money into the economy, but that money simply goes into the bank, is it stimulative?”
You mean you cannot push a string? That is a key flaw in monetarist theory, but as long as the money just sits in the pockets of the wealthy, it seems to be an acceptable situation.
Is it stimulative?!
And how! Just ask any Banksta!
“Do as I say, not as do,” is often confusing due to its hypocritical nature.
Perhaps something special is meant by “order” in this situation. The US expects the government of Greece to keep its people under control, to extract every last penny from them to keep the banking cartel whole.
Well we all know this is really the US branch of the banking cartel telling the Greek branch that they need to step up the control mechanisms.
In the beginning I didn’t much buy into this new world order crapola but in recent years I really do get the idea that borders are increasingly inconsequential and that the global financial powers are the higher power. I think it was after watching a report on the ‘87 crash and hearing of the phone call when our gov officials heard certain loans would become available. The sense of relief was overwhelming. That’s when I realized who held the real power.
In the beginning I didn’t much buy into this new world order crapola but in recent years I really do get the idea that borders are increasingly inconsequential and that the global financial powers are the higher power.
That’s what my profs at the biz school said. And they were dead serious too. They even said that multinationals would merge (as in ToyotaWalMartExxonIntelEtc) into corporations with sales in the multi trillion dollar range. They also said that when we got there they also issue their own currencies, and that currencies associated with nations would become obsolete.
Interestingly, very few of my classmates were horrified by that prospect.
Already been done, Canadian Tire Dollars.
Tecnically those are scrip and not legal tender, in that they are denominated in Canadian dollars. I believe that the profs were saying that the ToyotaWalMartExxonIntelEtc bucks would be legal tender and not scrip.
Yeah, they want some Greek “good ol’ boys” to crack some heads. Every country has “good ol’ boys” and if they don’t have enough - like some Eurasian countries we know - we or our proxies will be happy to lend some.
Providing ‘good old boys’ (the US Marine Corp) seems to be our remaining core competence in the USA.
This is nothing more than a productive asset grab (land, utility infrastructures, etc) by the benevolent International Banking Cartel.
Soon coming to a continent near you.
SVG
P.S. Think it wont? These politicians don’t answer to you and I.
Remember TARP? Approved with flying colors despite overwhelming
public disapproval.
END THE FED!
You have to hand it to the banksters. They con us into accepting their fiats as real money and even convince us to pay interest on it. So they hand out fiats (in loans) like they’re candy and when gov’ts can’t pay it back they demand to be given real assets in lieu of payment.
So they conjure “money” on a computer keyboard and when it isn’t paid back they take ownership of highways, powerplants, land, etc.
What is scary is that they are doing this at a global level. Its one thing if its localized to a handful of countries, but it turns out that just about everyone is up to their eyeballs in debt. Will the world just standby as the banksters seize everything?
Will the world just standby as the banksters seize everything?
History has shown yes, but then no.
Every overly weird, overly corrupt, overly wrong and overly tyrannical political and economic system meets its end. So far.
Every overly weird, overly corrupt, overly wrong and overly tyrannical political and economic system meets its end. So far.
Human comfort$ in an uncaring universe is not natural,…or so it seems. :-/
“It is really funny to hear us tell any other country “to get it’s house in order”. We are the kings of a disorderly household.”
What we really should have told Greece was to never give away your printing press. That was their really huge mistake. Otherwise, they could print & inflate & weaken their currency & improve their competitiveness in the same way that we are.
Layoffs, housing data point to chronic problems
Elevated layoffs, weak new-home sales are among more long-term factors weighing on economy
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sour reports Thursday on the number of people who sought unemployment benefits and buyers of new homes illustrate what Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke acknowledged Wednesday: Many factors weighing on the economy are proving to be more chronic than first imagined.
Applications for unemployment benefits rose to a seasonally adjusted 429,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday. It was the biggest jump in a month and marked the 11th straight week that applications have been above 400,000. Elevated unemployment benefit claims signal a worsening job market.
New-home sales fell in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 319,000, the Commerce Department said. That’s fewer than half the 700,000 that economists say must be sold to sustain a healthy housing market. Sales of new homes have fallen 18 percent in the two years since the recession ended. Last year was the worst for new-home sales on records dating back half a century.
The solution to the problem is quite simply really…… lower the price. Don’t make your problem my problem……. lower the price.
July 1st is the start of the state’s fiscal year and teachers are holding their breath in many districts around here awaiting their fate.
I was out w/several Syracuse teachers this past week and they were very angry and nervous. I can’t imagine what the wait is like. One teacher mentioned that she and her colleague had top numbers and they felt they both wouldn’t be allowed to stay in the same school which meant one would be reassigned. Better than losing one’s job, for sure, but still stressful. She reported her success came from her dept being a cohesive unit and now they were going to be torn apart. These women presented themselves as very intelligent and self possessed and I left hoping all turned out well for them.
Of course no one got into the politics of the benefits packages or the question of how many jobs could be saved if they more closely aligned w/what was going on in the private sector. There was also no discussion of the heavy administrator numbers and their heavier pay packages. There was only a white anger at having their jobs, their income, and their family’s well being on the line. I can’t help but wonder how much their union leaders have even presented to them ways some of these jobs could have been saved. It’s all very sad.
I wonder how NY state schools break down their per pupil spending? I know its more than twice what it is here in Colorado (17K vs 7K IIRC). Is there really no fat they can cut from their budgets? Must they lay teachers off?
Teachers, yes. Administrators no.
OK, maybe some administrators will be demoted back to teacher.
My English teacher from high school got his Ed.D. and is now the superintendent for a town in NJ. He makes about $190k.
Also, the town has about 13,000 people in it.
the town has about 13,000 people in it.
The question to ju$tify the $190,000 yearly pay is: How many students/schools are there?
If the town is like my similarly-sized NJ town I grew up in, there are probably three elementary schools, a middle school, and a high school.
Here’s the school:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Lakes_Public_Schools
It’s K-8, with ~1400-~1500 students.
“My English teacher from high school got his Ed.D. and is now the superintendent for a town in NJ. He makes about $190k.”
FWIW, that’s what most middle managers at HP get paid. I’m talking about people with about 100 people in their “empire”.
“I wonder how NY state schools break down their per pupil spending?”
Each district is vastly different. In NY the community has a school tax separated out from property tax. People in my present district pay about twice what they did in my last district. I don’t think the teachers get paid double or even more as the cheaper district was primarily older teachers whereas in my current more expensive district the teachers are all pretty young. It’s more complicated than that though because different districts get different proportions of help from the state. I believe the formula is based on both student count and income based need. (Please correct me on this NYers if there’s more to this than I’ve relayed)
I was out w/several Syracuse teachers this past week
+1 on a well thought out on the issues and balanced post.
Nope, no problems here…
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The Federal Reserve’s balance sheet expanded to a record $2.86 trillion in the week ended June 22 from $2.83 trillion in the prior week, the central bank said Thursday. The Fed balance sheet continues to set weekly records as the central bank completes its plan to purchase $600 billion in Treasurys by the end of June. The Fed is buying bonds to try to ease financial conditions and lower long-term interest rates under its plan, dubbed quantitative easing or QE2. The Fed had talked about how to shrink its bloated balance sheet but weak economic data has put those plans on hold perhaps until next year.
For sale: Katharine Hepburn’s luxury former home on the market for a cool $28 million.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2007592/Katharine-Hepburns-luxury-home-market-cool-28-million.html
Bernanke Public Approval Falls to Lowest
June 22 (Bloomberg) — Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke speaks about the Federal Open Market Committee’s decision to maintain rates at the current level and the outlook for the U.S. economy. Fed policymakers left the central bank’s benchmark interest rate in a range of zero to 0.25 percent, where it’s been since December 2008, and decided to keep its balance sheet at a record to spur the slowing economy.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s standing with the public has slid to its lowest level in almost two years of polling on the issue, even as faith in the Federal Reserve holds up.
Bernanke is viewed favorably by 30 percent of those polled, compared with 26 percent who view him unfavorably; the remainder are unsure. In September of 2009, Bernanke enjoyed 41 percent approval and 22 percent disapproval. The Fed itself is viewed favorably by 42 percent of voters, little changed from previous surveys.
The Bloomberg National Poll, conducted June 17-20, shows that the reputation of Bernanke, who led the central bank through the longest U.S. recession since the Great Depression, has slid lower as the unemployment rate has remained stuck near 9 percent or higher for 26 consecutive months.
“It’s a reflection of the fact that most Americans still don’t feel the economy is in recovery,” said Greg Valliere, chief political strategist at Potomac Research Group in Washington. “If a team is doing poorly the quarterback gets a disproportionate share of the blame.”
He really cares. He doesn’t have to stand for re-election until 20… Oh, wait.
I know, re-appointment is required. But the “voters” will be the same people who benefit from what his organization is doing now.
Realtors Are Liars
There has never been a better time to buy…If your from Brazil.
“In Rio [de Janeiro's] exclusive Leblon enclave,” Bloomberg News reports, “apartments sell for an average $1058 a square foot… In Miami’s South Beach, the average condominium price was $354 a square foot during this year’s first quarter. ‘Five years ago, it was the other way around,’ explains Craig Studnickly, president of a Miami real estate firm that caters to Brazilian buyers. ‘Miami was trading for $500-$1,000 a foot. Rio was trading for $300 or $500. It has absolutely switched.’”
Not surprisingly, therefore, Brazilians and many other foreigners with strong currencies are snapping up select portions of America’s deeply discounted real estate. To take maximum advantage of the simultaneous declines in US real estate and the US dollar, most foreign buyers purchase their properties with all-cash transactions.
“Brazilians today have the tide and the winds in their favor,” Jose Nunes, owner of a Miami-based realty explains to Bloomberg News. “The exchange rate being the tide and prices here being the winds. If one of these falters, demand will also falter.”
All-cash buyers are becoming an increasingly visible presence, especially in second-home markets like Miami and Phoenix. Nationwide, all-cash buyers now represent more than 30% of all homebuyers - up from about 15% two years ago and around 7% throughout the housing boom.
~ Clipped from The 5Min Forecast
What is the price of Brazilian housing in relation to Brazilian income?
What is the price of Brazilian housing in realtion to Brazilian rent?
Are high prices found in areas of secure stable jobs, tourist areas, rural areas?
You can’t compare Rio to Miami on currency strength alone.
It’s a bubble no matter how you slice it.
My impression from Rio’s post yesterday was $90/ft2.
Movie tickets are average $13 in Brazil.
Brazilians buying in Miami, Chinese buying in Vancouver, B.C. You know where the money is by who’s buying.
I’m only going to feebly attempt to address nice parts of Rio, not the whole of Brazil.
What is the price of Brazilian housing in relation to Brazilian income?
For middle-class and rich? Sky high. Maybe about like LA bubble era ratios. But about 60% own outright, loans are harder to get and require min 20% down.
What is the price of Brazilian housing in relation to Brazilian rent?
About a year ago, not too far out of whack. Rents are sky high in nice nabes. I’ll try to post next week as the Rio rent/buy figures come out in the paper every Sunday.
Are high prices found in areas of secure stable jobs, tourist areas, rural areas?
In Rio the sky high prices are found in the VERY FEW nice, “safe” desirable areas. These are few and far between.
You can’t compare Rio to Miami on currency strength alone.
You can’t ever totally figure out anything Brazilian by math, formulas and ratios that we use in the USA. There is a different pattern of thinking, attitudes and behavior here. How does this relate to housing? I have no idea yet. (but I’m on it)
In Rio the sky high prices are found in the VERY FEW nice, “safe” desirable areas. These are few and far between.
I should have added “In the city center” too. Because there is a very large, “safe” and nice middle-class and rich area south of the Rio city center called Baja de Tijuca. It has great beaches too. This is where the Olympic Village will be. Baja looks like much of the “nice” parts of Miami without the Rio character.
The problem with Baja de Tijuca is that is that with traffic, it can sometimes take 1-2 hours by car to get there but people do it.
But by 2016 the metro (subway) will service that area making it MUCH more desirable.
Professor Bear asked: What’s to stop the Fed (or their flush Wall Street bankster minions) from supplying liquidity on down days, just because they say QE is done?
From references I’ve read of the expected backdoor TWIST structure of QEIII, they won’t even have to tell us they’re doing it.
The Bernanke and politicians must be downright giddy about that.
+100 CArrie Anne
re: QE II
there is no “over”
Don’t worry Carrie, they’ll tell us what they want us to think, and when.
That’s my exact suspicion: QE3 will be the unannounced, unpublicized edition of QE2. But when the stock market drops hard at the opening bell, like today, for instance, I still expect Ben’s magic printing press technology to “supply liquidity” as needed to stem the selloff. And eventually, rich guys will see their equity share prices skyrocket while Main Street America’s savings accounts are buried in a dust of inflation…same way as always before…
On Friday June 24, 2011, 1:21 am EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Regulators want to ensure mortgage lenders retain some of the risk on loans they originate, as it is crucial to strengthen the housing finance system, a top Treasury official said on Friday.
“We are committed to implementing risk retention reforms in a thoughtful manner that ensures continued access to sustainable mortgage credit for low- and moderate-income borrowers and protects the health of the still-fragile housing market,” Treasury Under Secretary Jeffrey Goldstein said in remarks prepared for delivery at mortgage conference.
“Better underwriting practices for mortgages are good for consumers, good for the financial industry, and good for the economy,” Goldstein said.
The Treasury is involved in implementing requirements from the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform bill to curb risk-taking at financial firms. The legislation called on federal regulators to establish new guidelines for lenders and originators of securitized loans, the types of instruments that fueled the 2007-2009 financial crisis.
The proposed rules are intended to reduce risk-taking by forcing lenders to hold onto a 5 percent stake in any loan bundled for investors in the secondary market. Regulators proposed an exemption for the so-called qualified residential mortgages when borrowers make 20 percent down payments.
Critics say the rules would keep potential first-time buyers out of the housing market and drive up borrowing costs because lenders would charge higher rates for loans that do not qualify for the exemption. A comment period on the proposed rule expires on August 1.
Link to come
Thank you Reuters, for not saying that people would be “required”
to put 20% down for a mortgage. Nope, all that’s “required” is for lenders to put a little of their own money where their bonuses are, instead of acting like a tollbooth collecting fees on the pass-through.
Dodd-Frank is sounding better every day.
So you don’t buy into the argument that requiring the 20% downpayment would bring the home prices down so pdq that it soon wouldn’t be so extremely difficult to save that 20%?
As I’ve reported here before, the house I grew up in cost my Dad 38% of my his yearly income. Can you imagine? Wouldn’t going back to those numbers be wonderful? Even going back to 200-250% yearly income would make me very happy.
The way articles have been presenting this proposed regulation, “nobody would be allowed” to buy a house unless they had 20% cash. That’s not true. ALL this means is that if you have less than 20% down, the bank can only sell 95% of this loan to the secondary market instead of all 100%.
So banks are whining because they have to keep 5% of a loan, and can’t make all their money NOW. Cry me a river, get me that tiny violin, and call the waaaaambulance. If banks want to make loans, they will find a way to lend to the less-than-20% crowd. Like, take 10% down and do a little due diligence on the income, and accept the 5% risk. Just like banks did years ago.
That said, even asking 10% down will drop prices like a rock. Few people have even $25K cash for a $200k house.
In the “old” days that 20% or more down payment for the new house came from the equity you netted when you sold your current house (which had appreciated). Not any more.
“Even going back to 200-250% yearly income would make me very happy.”
Those ratios exist in many places. I live in one of them (Phoenix).
If all Dodd-Frank did was solve the mortgage mess by requiring more skin in the game (either from borrower or lenders), it would be just fine with me.
However, they are adding all sorts of regulation on top of smaller investment firms that did not get a hand-out, were not too big to fail, are not significantly leveraged, and only have as investors people who can withstand losses (HNW individuals, etc.).
These parts of FD are unnecessary, and will result in more $ ending up being managed by megabanks, as opposed to smaller boutique managers, since the cost of compliance is not insignificant.
A lawfirm we know has a blog called “Frank-N-Dodd” that is trying to keep their clients up to speed on how the legislation will impact their business. Very little of the discussion revolves around mortgage math. Most has to do with new registration and reporting requirements.
A firm for instance with $100MM under management (could be over multiple funds), even if it is completely unleveraged, audited by major CPA, with only accredited investors will now need to spend the $ and time registering with the SEC, potentially needing to hire a compliance officer–and the SEC will need people on the other side to monitor.
All this will do will increase costs for these smaller businesses, and make it more difficult for someone to start their own firm. The money that doesn’t end up being invested with smaller firms will end up in the hands of larger firms.
The money that ends up in the hands of the larger firms will only be deployed by being invested in larger investments. Folks trying to raise money for small investments/enterprises will have a harder time as the smaller firms either outgrow the smaller entrepreneurs to shoulder the burden of Dodd-Frank, or go out of business.
The unintended consequences of Dodd-Frank will be akin to Sarbanes-Oxley, or worse.
If they simply kept it to the mortgage math, it would have been MUCH better and had just a big an impact.
“The money that doesn’t end up being invested with smaller firms will end up in the hands of larger firms.”</I.
And that’s different from current events, how?
The LAST thing the FIRE sector needs is LESS regulation.
Unintended consequences? That’s life. Tough. That’s no excuse to do nothing and let a bad situation continue.
Legislation re: Lender risk retension link:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Risk-retention-crucial-to-rb-2034623319.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=7&asset=&ccode=
See above for article segment.
“Regulators want to ensure mortgage lenders retain some of the risk on loans they originate, as it is crucial to strengthen the housing finance system, a top Treasury official said on Friday.”
Some of the risk?
The less risk lenders retain, the poorer the quality of the loans will be.
There’s big money in trading debt. But full risk retention is the single best way to get the public treasury off the hook when the loans blow up.
I was just making small talk with my neighbor, who bought his house (2/1) last year. He told me he got a deal, and all together he pays about $2,200/mo. My rent is $1,100 for the 3/2 right across the street.
I have no idea why he didn’t, but he didn’t ask me what my rent is. I’m glad.
Location location location.
Are you sure about the monthly nut? $2000/month (I took out $200 for tax + ins) translates to a $400K loan at 4.5%. You can probably get a 2/1 in Manhattan for that price. (didn’t that poster teaching in Japan just buy a Manhattan 1/1 for $350K?).
You neighbor better hope he’s sitting on an oil well or a yard the size of a futball field.
Taxes would are $2,647
Homeowners est. $2,500 (probably more)
Flood est. $2,500 (maybe more)
I’d say take out about $700 for TI. This is very common in coastal Florida. He paid $195k for the house.
Wow!
For us:
Taxes - $2100
Homeowners insurance: $700
HOA: $400
Flood: N/A
“I have no idea why he didn’t, but he didn’t ask me what my rent is. I’m glad.”
Awww…come on, Muggy… you should have volunteered the information!
“you should have volunteered the information!”
Naw, he’s the straight guy that does his yardwork in speedos and penny loafers. I respect a man like that.
I’ve always been puzzled by the lack of any serious investigation in the media, of the financial crisis and the recession. Namely the debauching of loan standards, the making of bad loans, and the subsequent blowing up of those loans.
I stumbled across an article in The Economist, that makes corporate propaganda seem on a larger scale than government propaganda.
There’s a quote, from Upton Sinclair - “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” This article highlights that.
FOR journalists, public-relations agents are like urban foxes: there seem to be more of them about these days, and they are more brazen than ever. Reporters were shocked, shocked to hear on May 12th that Burson-Marsteller (BM), a big PR agency, had tried to persuade newspaper writers and a blogger to scribble nasty things about Google’s record on privacy, while concealing that its growing rival, Facebook, was paying for this lobbying.
…
There are few new tricks in public relations. Mud-slinging against a client’s rivals; offering newspapers ready-made articles containing plugs for a client’s products; cutting off reporters who write negative stories and rewarding malleable ones with exclusives; bribing experts to lend their reputation to a client’s cause: examples of all these and more can be found way back in the industry’s century-long history. But the increasingly thin staffing of newsrooms seems to be encouraging the spinners to be more shameless than ever with such tactics.
http://www.economist.com/node/18712755
Matt Taibbi (sp?) is an important exception. But most of the rest depend on press releases and spoon-fed information from their friendly sources.
Watergate-style sleuthing? They haven’t a clue how to go about doing something like that.
“They haven’t a clue how to go about doing something like that.”
That’s because the astute newspaper owners and CEOs fired all of the experienced (and pricey) desks in order to “enhance shareholder value” AKA line their own pockets.
Just 6 corporations own 90% of ALL MSM.
Another reason why industry prognosticators claim all bad news is unexpected and good news is right around the corner.
Debtors will usually claim (and may even believe) they can service their debts, just as alcoholics deny they have a drinking problem. In any case, an early admission of a solvency problem would be akin to informing your spouse of your intention to commit adultery: it would precipitate a crisis rather than avert it.
http://www.economist.com/node/18586816
Oh, hey, look… another charter school shutters after mismanaging money.
We need to make schools more like businesses!
http://www.news-press.com/article/20110624/NEWS0104/106240367
“The state specifically requested results of a criminal background check on Edison Prep headmaster Frank Scarpaci. Guidelines require a school “deny employment to or terminate an employee or contracted personnel with direct student contact” if that employee fails to meet background screening standards.
In addition to being headmaster, Scarpaci taught at least eight subjects at Edison Prep. In 1992, he pleaded guilty to nine counts of fraud in a $100 million Ponzi scheme. In 1993, he was sentenced to 21 months in prison and two years of probation.”
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: the vultures are swarming education because there are fewer dollars elsewhere.
How does an effing butthead like that even GET a damn job?!
10’s of million out of work and needing a decent job, and the effing crooks get hired instead!
Oh, hey, look… another charter school shutters after mismanaging money.
We need to make schools more like businesses!
I think you’re missing the point.
No one (I believe) is claiming that if schools are run like businesses that none will close. Instead, there will be selection forces at play, and the BAD schools will go out of business (ie those that mismanage money, or fail to educate students) and the good ones will prosper.
Right now, the schools that mismanage money and fail to educate students are the only game in town, thanks to the government.
We have plenty of private schools in my town. Except for the religious schools they cost (spend) about twice per pupil what the local public schools spend. The total cost at the Parrochial school where my kids went was about the same as the public schools spends. Of course the Parrochial school didn’t have to offer special ed, bilingual or remedial classes.
“Right now, the schools that mismanage money and fail to educate students are the only game in town, thanks to the government.”
That is an overstatement. Can you point me toward a school in your town that is failing students and/or mismanaging money? I can look into it. If the $ issue exceeds $100k you can call your local FBI directly (that sometimes happens).
Taking over failing public schools is my gig, and I’m good at it. You can ask me specific questions if you’d like.
That is an overstatement. Can you point me toward a school in your town that is failing students and/or mismanaging money?
Are you arguing that gov’t schools these days are effectively educating students and are managing funds effectively? You don’t think that schools are top/administrative-heavy? You really think that students are really learning reading/writing/arithmetic rather than how to take a standardized test?
Are you suggesting there’s any force rewarding excellence in how a particular school is run, and selecting against those that are run poorly? If so, what is that force? The students must attend - most have no choice in what school they go to, what teachers they get, etc.
Most, most, a few, yes, you don’t get that part, employment, not in my county.
Don’t forget point me to a school that you’re concerned about so I can offer some pointers on how you can help.
Don’t forget point me to a school that you’re concerned about so I can offer some pointers on how you can help.
Try to be more condescending, eh?
Clearly your POV is biased as your livelihood depends on it. You’ve made that much abundantly clear in your posts here. You’re well past even pretending to be objective.
Even teachers complain about schools being administratively-heavy. And we see article after article about students who are progressed a grade enough though they haven’t mastered the skills, and who graduate high school without basic reading and math skills.
Again, you’re missing the point, and trying to reframe the discussion in a way where you think you can be right via appeal to authority. Sorry, but the bottom line is that private schools going out of business shows the private system WORKS. With gov’t schools there are no market forces to reward good schools/districts/educators, and no forces to remove those that are bad.
“You’re well past even pretending to be objective.”
No doubt. I truly believe in public education. It transforms lives. I believe in compulsory education, and I believe you need to pay for it through taxation.
“Even teachers complain about schools being administratively-heavy. ”
I do, too. Depends on the district.
“With gov’t schools there are no market forces to reward good schools/districts/educators, and no forces to remove those that are bad.”
Not in my district or state. I think this is a local issue.
Sorry you find me condescending. Do you feel that you are an authority on this issue, with ground-level experience?
so basically you’re agreeing with me, if I’m understanding correctly. There are no forces to weed out waste/ineffectiveness in gov’t schools? However, there are such forces for private schools, which you suggest (via sarcasm) that somehow shows that privatization is bad.
btw, I never claimed to be any kind of “authority”. I’m not the one appealing to authority for my position - you are.
“so basically you’re agreeing with me, if I’m understanding correctly.”
On some points, yes, others, no.
“There are no forces to weed out waste/ineffectiveness in gov’t schools?”
That is incorrect. I don’t know your school district so I can’t offer an opinion on how effective it is. In Florida, school improvement plans are online and anyone can review them. You can see year-over-year how a school is doing with a surprising amount of detail.
“However, there are such forces for private schools, which you suggest (via sarcasm) that somehow shows that privatization is bad.”
That is incorrect. I don’t know what private schools you are referring to, so I can’t offer an opinion on how effective it is. There are some very wealthy private schools in my current district that are effectively immune from market forces; they also discriminate. The fact that you are arguing down this line tells me you don’t understand the case law behind public education. In fact, many posters here don’t… ironically, these are often the people that are for, “the constitution.” Ironic that many of these issues have already been addressed in SC rulings. Check out Plyler V. Doe. I’ve seen posters on this very blog try to dredge up issues that were ruled on 30 years ago!
I would say that I am an authority on some of these issues. I don’t understand why you have a problem with that. You haven’t been specific about something where I am wrong. From my vantage point you are simply parroting libertarian talking points on education (free market, failure, blah, blah, etc.). I have said this before on this blog: I am fiercely for public education for minors, and I don’t really have any opinion for adults. You’re on your own. From a political standpoint, there is no party that represents all of my views on major issues.
As for education, I mostly agreed with Florida’s last Governor (which I would define as center-right).
And let me be clear: the libertarian stance on public education (end compulsion) is psychotic.
And let me be clear: the libertarian stance on public education (end compulsion) is psychotic.
Can you explain what you mean a little more?
When I read that I’m confused because I thought pretty much everybody was in agreement that the biggest enemy of the top half of the class was the 10th percentile student who doesn’t want to be there and whose parent doesn’t care if they are there. To me it would seem like a good idea to end compulsion just to stop forcing the rest of the kids to share the room with him.
“With gov’t schools there are no market forces to reward good schools/districts/educators, and no forces to remove those that are bad.”
Oh? Ever heard of your local school board? You can vote for the directors. If you’re not, YOU are the problem.
But then, you’ve just said you don’t or you would never had made such a ludicrous statement.
Carl, compulsion varies by age by state. I’m not aware of any situation where “those kids” have prohibited “the rest of the kids” from graduating. Disruptive children are a part of the education process. In many cases, disruptive children are disadvantaged children - there are many different ways of supporting disadvantaged children; this also varies by state, but can also under the Federal umbrella (Section 504, Students w/disabilities, Title I, etc.). FWIW, we are now discussing an issue addressed in the 60’s.
http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/pg1.html
Also, what Eco said.
Nobody with a libertarian education agenda has given me specific examples. I just hear things like “the government” and “the system” and “the market” and “those kids.”
Carl, I posted a response, but it had a link…
I agree with Muggy on this. Public education for every child is a public good. IMHO, it is infrastructure for our human capital.
Private schools have the luxury of kicking out underperforming or expensive children.
Muggy:
Would you say the biggest difference between a top ranked school and a failing school is:
The top ranked school forces its students to read, write and speak English?
——————–
I would say that I am an authority on some of these issues.
Tuition to increase 15 percent at Florida universities
By LILLY ROCKWELL
The News Service of Florida
Posted: 8:21 p.m. Thursday, June 23, 2011
TALLAHASSEE — For the third year in a row, undergraduate students at Florida universities will pay 15 percent more in tuition.
The governing board for the State University System approved a 7 percent increase in tuition on Thursday. That’s on top of an 8 percent tuition increase approved by the Legislature earlier.
The tuition increases come at a time when financial aid programs, such as the popular Bright Futures scholarship, are being cut, leaving students with bigger tuition bills. Some Board of Governors members are beginning to examine how tuition increases are impacting middle class students who aren’t eligible for need-based aid.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/schools/tuition-to-increase-15-percent-at-florida-universities-1558669.html - -
It’s going up 20% at Colo State U.
Sooner or later increases are going to have to stop.
If something cannot continue forever…
Increase in tuition is one more way to extract money from those who have it - well to do parents with stable incomes / savings. Note I did not say wealthy nor did I say upper middle class!
Talking only w.r.t American students, I figure (guesstimate) that about 25% of them are fully supported by their parents. Another 30% are supported partly (tuition only). So if the parents can pay then a 10-20% increase in tuition, especially for in-state students, is not much for these parents. Then there are students that take (or have to take) loans to meet their expenses. Out of these about I think about 60% (a majority anyway) end up taking their dream courses / degree. Most of these students, being poor students in esoteric fields will just have the humongous debt to show for it. What is needed is a sea change in attitude to education - just like how a complete mindset change is required for RE, as discussed here - that make these college age kids think about their prospects in terms of making a living rather than pursuing a whim. Only then one could expect the tuition to be priced in terms of actual demand.
The CSU increases were mostly driven by state budget cuts. Eventually the state funding will be zero (by some estimates in 2-3 years).
Who here was trying to tell me college costs hadn’t risen as fast and high as I said?
“Comment by alpha-sloth
2011-06-23 07:33:23
Weren’t HOAs a conservative/libertarian alternative to corrupt, wasteful local government? Yes, I believe they were. You see, instead of having those well-tanned liberal parasites downtown run things, we’d have local ‘producer’ types run their own neighborhoods, without all that government waste, government intrusion, high paid do-nothing government workers, etc.
We’d finally get to see the superiority of the Free Market over the wastefulness of evil, socialist Big Government.
How’s that working out?”
Nah…..that’s a no-go right there. HOA’s are one thing people of all political persuasions can agree about. They are tyrannical and they are run by d-bags and that is obvious no matter what part of the field you are playing on. I consider myself blessed for living in an area that outside of new construction is relatively free of their influence.
I have a friend living in an HOA situation. The gossip is a howl. It’s junior high all over again although most of the residents are 65 and older. My favorite story is of the resident who called up a board member in an absolute tizzy when it was learned someone was getting a new unit that was going to be larger and more impressive than hers. She was under the impression hers was to always be the apex unit in the association. I’m not a boomer hater but some of these stories really do put me on a slow burn.
You okay today Carrie? You’re not sounding like the upbeat CNY RE cheerleader troll that you usually are.
Junior high all over again indeed!
Ha ha, oxide. Yeah that was a howl. I guessed she missed the years I posted from my last place I lived where I hated the power structure, the Mommie materialism wars, and the stranglehold of the lying realtors there causing me to engage in several long winded bitch sessions a thread. At the time that was CNY to me. I’m glad I did try community #2 even if I still run into milder shades of material crowd from time to time. At least the utter hubris and self centeredness is more tightly in check here. The schaedenfreude moment for our family is that the first community’s real estate is falling much harder especially the social ladder climber’s showy trophy paces. Ha ha ha. Our best revenge is living well.
They are tyrannical and they are run by d-bags and that is obvious no matter what part of the field you are playing on.
and all city/state/national laws and regulations are still applicable. All and HOA can do is add on more rules/regulations. How could it possibly be anything approximating “libertarian”.
June 23, 2011, 4:16 pm Investment Banking | Wall Street
Wall St.’s Dinner With Obama: Hold the Scorn
By KEVIN ROOSE
While Mr. Bieber was busy introducing “Someday,” his new fragrance, with an appearance at Macy’s in Herald Square, President Obama traveled to Manhattan on Thursday for several fund-raising events, including an extravagant dinner for some of his administration’s top Wall Street supporters.
The $35,800-a-plate dinner, held at the eponymous Upper East Side restaurant of the famed chef Daniel Boulud, was hosted by a committee of bankers, private equity executives and hedge fund managers, including Marc Lasry, chief executive of the Avenue Capital Group, and Orin Kramer, general partner at Boston Provident.
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/06/23/wall-streets-dinner-with-obama-hold-the-scorn/ - -
“Someday” as in “Someday I’ll hit puberty and my voice will finally break?”
(sorry… I stupidly looked up the Bieb on YouTube because I wanted to see what the 300 million views were about. I still carry the scars.)
Many of the girls in DD’s class are nuts about the guy. Thank the lucky stars, mine isn’t one of them.
Mine either. My 12 year old is instead obsessed w/some 40+ year old Armenian dude w/intense and sometimes angry music. Can’t say I’m thrilled about that one either.
Oh well.
On the Bieber comment, my stylist had an ipod in and one of the songs was Donnie Osmond’s “Go Away Little Girl.” I just had to laugh. The JB of the early 70s.
In other music news: U2 faces protest at Glastonbury.
From the story:
U2 and its frontman Bono are known for their global poverty-fighting efforts but activists plan to protest their performance Friday at England’s Glastonbury festival, accusing the Irish band of dodging taxes.
The anti-capitalist group Art Uncut said it would unfurl banners and placards in front of TV cameras filming the U2 gig on the festival’s main Pyramid Stage.
Member Charlie Dewar said Bono campaigns against poverty in the developing world but has avoided paying Irish taxes at a time when his austerity-hit country desperately needs money.
Hi. Does anyone have the link to the Case Shiller Index where you can see charts by city that show maybe a ten year history? Or another source? I can’t seem to locate. Thanks! Arizona Slim if you still need an ergonomic mouse try a Kensington trackball mouse.
google case shiller. It’s the 1st link. At least it is as of 10:13 am, June 24th, 2011, the year of our Lord
I’ve tried trackballs. Too hard to control when you’re doing a clipping path in Photoshop.
I’m leaning toward something like the Evol mouse. Puts the arm and shoulder in a much more natural position than the flat-on-the-table mice do.
Arizona, do you ever do any work w/the Bamboo? We’ve got one in the house and my budding artist loves it because of the increased control of the cursor.
Yes, I’ve used a Wacom tablet. But I could never get the fine control over my work that I was told I should be getting. Don’t ask me why, but I just couldn’t.
Evol mouse
Damn, they’ve beat me to it. ‘Bout time someone made this!
I don’t know where there are charts, but you can get the raw data by city directly on the S&P website. Simply do a Google search for Case Shiller, and it’ll take you to the right place.
http://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/2011/03/23/the-obama-administration-is-slowly-reissuing-offshore-drilling-permits/
Was not able to respond to comments yesterday. I thought that the NGV responses to my critics were quite good existing infrastructure (right in home for many) for them, many countries use them, easy to convert vehicles. I would add that there is a production vehicle available. The link above shows how the Obama administration foot dragging in the Gulf costs us 250,000 barrels a day production.
But my main point today has to do with Libya. I opposed the war from the beginning but if we were going to do, we should have done it decisively. Now, if I was Khadaffi, I would be quite happy with the way things are working out. While the fight is not over and we could land the lucky punch (kill him in an airstrike), he is a head on points with only a few rounds left. (1) Nato is fracturing and cannot continue the campaign much longer (2) Obama failed to try for congressional approval early and now it would be much harder (3) He now sees by Obama’s desperate attempt to drive down oil prices that the status quo of now oil from Libya cannot be sustained. Thus, he is far less likely to negotiate his departure. The worlds loses 42 million barrels of day of production due to Libya being off line so If the release of the oil causes the war to last a month a half longer the “release” will mean less oil and not more supplied to the market.
I often compare Obama to Carter. However, with the actions of the last few months, I think Mugabe is a better comparison. Try to print your way to prosperity. When inflation appears, blame the speculators. Don’t try to solve problems, try to manipulate things. Punish the most productive persons in your economy when your policies fail. In Zimbabwe, it was the white farmers. After their farms were seized for his cronies production crashed leading to food shortages.
I am eager for the responses to this post. Should be fun.
Correction: 42 million barrels per month.
I thought it was odd that NBC news last night said, this move “is to drive out speculators.” So WTF don’t they do that for housing?
” So WTF don’t they do that for housing?”
This was NOT written by me. So read it or don`t and believe it or not.
And then there’s this other report from Lender Processing Services (LPS), which also reports a drop in newly delinquent loans, but gives the actual, mind-numbing numbers of loans in trouble:
■Number of properties that are 30+ days past due, but not in foreclosure: (A) 4,187,000
■Number of properties that are 90+ days delinquent, but not in foreclosure: 1,921,000
■Number of properties in foreclosure pre-sale inventory: (B) 2,164,000
■Number of properties that are 30+ days delinquent or in foreclosure: (A+B) 6,350,000
There are more than six million properties in distress, a third of those in foreclosure. According to yesterday’s monthly home sales report from the National Association of Realtors, less than five million homes will sell this year, at the current sales pace. There are currently 3.72 million existing homes for sale, representing a 9.3 months supply; that does not include newly built homes nor does it include that six million number.
TARP, HAMP, and the other foreclosure-prevention programs simply kicked the can down the road. But now we’ve caught up to it again. So was it worth it?
The shadow inventory of foreclosures is simply too large to absorb. If all of these homes are allowed to come to market, home prices and the entire economy would crash quickly. The Fed, Treasury, and the rest will do everything they can to prevent this from happening.
Expect more acronyms to be created in the second-half of 2011.
Khadaffi must have pissed off someone badly to get invaded.
My theory is that he did something the Chinese didn’t like and this is retribution.
He’ll live to a ripe old age, with no worrie$
I often compare Obama to Carter….. I think Mugabe is a better comparison….Try to print your way to prosperity.
There is a “flaw in your model”*
Mugabe was a dictator with 100% control of his central bank Obama is and does not. The checks and balance structure of our Government along with the level of independence of the Federal Reserve from the government would never have allowed Obama to unilaterally make such a decision or never have allowed Obama to halt the Fed’s massive expansion of its balance sheet. (printing money) Much of that was a done deal before and after he took office. Although Obama did “print” money as well, he did not print most of it or have control over most of the printing.
Now will Pres. Obama act as you say after the “done deal”? Maybe.
*Borrowed from Alan Greenspan’s admittance to his mistake of assuming free-markets were always self-correcting and/or able to regulate themselves.
Little loosy goosy with your bold facts there Mr Que-Dan?
The worlds loses 42 million barrels of day of production due to Libya being off line
Top World Oil Producers, 2009
(Thousand Barrels per Day)
Country * Production
1 Russia* 9,934
2 Saudi Arabia* 9,760
3 United States* 9,141
4 Iran* 4,177
5 China * 3,996
6 Canada* 3,294
7 Mexico * 3,001
8 United Arab Emirates * 2,795
9 Brazil * 2,577
10 Kuwait* 2,496
11 Venezuela * 2,471
12 Iraq * 2,400
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA):
Data through 2009 by country, region, and commercial group (OECD, OPEC) for 217 countries including total and crude oil production, oil consumption, natural gas production and consumption, coal production and consumption, electricity generation and consumption, primary energy, energy intensity, CO2 emissions and imports and exports for all fuels.
Anywho, now that Iraq can get back to having it’s native peoples fight over the control of the golden-black-goo-egg revenue$$$$$$ they’ll rapidly utilize Free Market motivation$$$$$$ to pump out as much as possible A$AP!
Go Iraq! You can do better than Libya, go team, GO!
I think if you saw my correction I was not playing fast and loose with anything. Also, if you read the rest of the text I said that in a little over a month and half, it would equal the 60 million released. 42 million times 45 would not equal 60 million. But sorry if I mislead you.
Now, if I was Khadaffi, I would be quite happy with the way things are working out.
Yeah, having Apache Helicopters & AWAC’s & F-22’s finger probing for you & your closest pals soft parts with things that go boom,…it’s a wonderful life!
Under Obama’s policy, we are not bombing any more except for drones so no F-22s, that is why the war powers act is not triggered according to the constitution scholar Obama. Get with the program. The larger point is absent a lucky strike that kills him, he will probably win this war. Of course, with a lucky strike then the Islamists can take over. Either way we lose. Stupid war fought in an inept manner.
Now, if I was Khadaffi, I would be quite happy with the way things are working out.
Looks like these were you words.
Like I said:
Yeah, having Apache Helicopters & AWAC’s & F-22’s finger probing for you & your closest pals soft parts with things that go boom,…it’s a wonderful life!
You have a quirky sense of how a person under attack can seem pleased & happy.
The larger point is
As they say in a certain part of Tayhoss: “That turkle, he’s daid, he just don’t knows it!
But my main point today has to do with
Libya. ChinaPerhaps Vietnam with ask Senator McSame to get the U$ to offer them some military help,…for the next 100 years!
China urges U.S. to stay out of sea dispute:
By Don Durfee Don Durfee – Wed Jun 22 Reuters News (Additional reporting by Manny Mogato in Manila and John Ruwitch in Hanoi, Writing by Sui-Lee Wee,; Editing by Robert Birsel)
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai’s comments to a small group of foreign reporters ahead of a meeting with U.S. officials in Hawaii this weekend come amid the biggest flare-up in regional tension in years over competing maritime sovereignty claims in the South China Sea.
Tension has risen in the region in the past month on concern that China is becoming more assertive in its claim to waters believed to be rich in oil and gas.
“The United States is not a claimant state to the dispute in the South China Sea and so it’s better for the United States to leave the dispute to be sorted out between claimant states,” Cui said.
China’s claim is by far the largest, forming a large U-shape over most of the sea’s 648,000 square miles (1.7 million square km), including the Spratly and Paracel archipelagos.The latest spell of tension began last month when Vietnam said Chinese boats had harassed a Vietnamese oil exploration ship. China said Vietnamese oil and gas exploration undermined its rights in the South China Sea.
Cui said China has no intention of getting into military conflict with other countries, including Vietnam.
Union deal likely to be officially killed later this morning
Brian Lockhart, Staff Writer
Updated 09:03 a.m., Friday, June 24, 2011
Acknowledging that state workers will likely vote down a $1.6 billion concessions package later this morning, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy prepared Thursday to make good on threats to lay off as many as 7,500 over the next two years and announced plans for a possible special Legislative session.
At some point this morning it’s expected that two unions will have rejected the givebacks, sinking the deal for the entirety of the 15-union State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition. An 11 a.m. announcement is expected from union spokesman Larry Dorman, just as Malloy is set to hold a media availability following a meeting with the mayors of the state’s five largest cities.
“I think we probably know what the results (will be),” Malloy told reporters yesterday in Hartford. “Which means that we’ll proceed with what we have to do, which is exactly what I told everyone we would do all along.”
http://www.greenwichtime.com/ - 135k -
Wait a minute, Ram said he had this type thing under control.
Teen Mob Hits Walgreens On The Mag Mile
CHICAGO (CBS) — The teenage robbery mobs are at it again on North Michigan Avenue.
Some 50 young people barged into a Walgreens at Michigan and Chicago on the Magnificent Mile on Tuesday afternoon. They took bottled drinks and sandwiches off the shelves, then ran off, CBS 2′s Suzanne Le Mignot.
A police report says authorities were able to nab three of the thieves.
Walgreens says the store is working with police, helping investigators with video from the store security camera.
The Mag Mile earlier this year was hit by similar mobs of young thieves. Attacks on commuters and bicyclists have become violent, and police have stepped up patrols.
Bottled drinks but not canned drinks? Hmm…sounds like something big is afoot.
“Bottled drinks but not canned drinks? Hmm…sounds like something big is afoot”
You`re right, boys will be boys.
“a group of 15 to 20 young men were responsible for a series of crimes that included beating and robbing victims, pushing cyclists into the lake, and dragging people out of cars and taxis.”
Rahm Emanuel Wants Justice Against Flash Mobs
By Andrew Lu on June 8, 2011 3:05 PM | No TrackBacks
Mayor Rahm Emanuel is calling on Chicago police to crack down on flash mobs responsible for five weekend attacks in the upscale Streeterville neighborhood. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, a group of 15 to 20 young men were responsible for a series of crimes that included beating and robbing victims, pushing cyclists into the lake, and dragging people out of cars and taxis.
Rahm Emanuel believes that these flash mobs are gathering via social networking tools like Twitter and text-messaging reports the Sun-Times. And while the social media phenomena of youths gathering together to commit some group activity like spontaneously dancing in a mall has existed for some time, the violent turn taken by the mob in Streeterville is particularly alarming.
http://chicagocriminalattorneysblog.com/2011/06/rahm-emanuel-wants-justice-against-flash-mobs.html - 36k -
Ain’t Twitter wonderful.
kids stealing drinks and sandwiches.. things are getting desparate
(Teens) took bottled drinks and sandwiches off the shelves, then ran off, CBS 2′s Suzanne Le Mignot.
Questioned later why they didn’t steal beer or liquor the ringleader responded. “Because we ain’t 21 yet”.
by Howard Gold
Friday, June 24, 2011
“And then there’s housing.
Year after year, many have predicted the bottom of the housing market (and for the record, I was one of them in 2011), and year after year housing prices have kept falling.
Shilling, of course, isn’t one of the optimists. He’s actually looking for another 20% drop in housing prices before we hit bottom in 2013.
Since housing prices nationally already have fallen by a third from their peak, that means that, if he’s right, they’ll end up a stomach-churning 45% off their early 2006 highs. Yale Prof. Robert Shiller, co-creator of the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price index, has a similar prediction.”
A 20% drop, home prices are still too high here in Ventura County CA and 20% just might fix that. lets see most homes I look at are about 475K minus 20% would be 380K. About 4x my gross earnings thats still a bit high but most people around here probably make more than me but have saved less. should put me even with them in buying power. State workers take a pay cut and I keep my job I pull ahead. The really high earners don’t buy in Moorpark but in Thousand Oaks or Westlake Village, and they make wayyyy more than me or even most firemen. So I don’t worry about them, they might as well live on a different planet. But if they ever crash their 100K imported car into me….
I think prices in Phoenix on the upper ends will drop 20% as well. Some of the $400,000 Ahwatukee houses are ugly monsters with six bedrooms. When all I want is under 2000 square feet and would go to 1300 if I get 24 hour guarded gate.
“The Average American family has only $3,800 in the bank. 50% of Americans have only $35,000 saved for retirement. They have little in investments, and credit card debt up to their ears… Now… that sounds bleak, but it’s the ‘Average American’… but if that sounds bleak… add to their worries, the high price of gas these days, and… this from CNBC… ‘U.S. state and local governments will need to raise taxes by $1,398 per household every year for the next 30 years if they are to fully fund their pension systems, a study released on Wednesday said.’
~Chuck Butler
Something will have to give. Denial cannot last forever. Revolution against big government, massive unemployment of government employees and contractors are what we need to go through.
Revolution against Wall Street and the moneyed elite, rather.
Exactly.
Government is nothing but a distraction and scapegoat for the sheeple.
Why one or the other?
Big government and big banking both need a big haircut.
I always love it when the govt types justify how bad they are by pointing to a group even worse if only by a small margin.
Of course being as big banking pays off big government it really makes perfect sense to me.
What a special little a-hole…
Geithner: Taxes on ‘Small Business’ Must Rise So Government Doesn’t ‘Shrink’
(CNSNews.com) - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told the House Small Business Committee on Wednesday that the Obama administration believes taxes on small business must increase so the administration does not have to “shrink the overall size of government programs.”
Geithner is a worthless little creep. I thought his I’ll championed small business. And that is where the most jobs arr created. To raise taxes on small business will simply prolong unemployment. Socialists stink.
Sounds more like socialism for the top 1%. They’ll still have enough loopholes to not pay any taxes. The small business owner on Main street? Pay up loser.
It continues to amaze me how the small business owner is still resolutely conservative even though they were thrown under the bus by their fellow Repubs.
You can’t fix that kind of stupid.
It’s easy to make a case for not voting R. Much more difficult to make a case for who they should vote for instead.
I agree, tax the biggest 500 corporations (the REAL rich) up the kazoo, but leave small business alone. Small businesses are everyone’s favorite target for fundraising, but the ONLY productive group in America IMO and the most overall cost to benefit ratio.
Really want to raise taxes? How about a 100% tax on the retail value of goods manufactured overseas? Sure a big screen might cost a bit more but I’d bet the jobs would come back in a hurry.
Geithner is a worthless little creep.
What a special little a-hole…
What’s next boys, jealousy & indignation at timmy’s $alary & social standing?
heheeeheeeheehaahaaahaaheeehaahaaa… (Hwy50™)
Pioneer to Revisit Subprime WSJ ~ June 24, 2011
Lewis Ranieri, once known as the father of mortgage finance, is daring to revisit the most infamous sector of the mortgage market—subprime lending.
Four years ago, sky-high defaults on subprime mortgages—used mainly by borrowers with weak credit profiles—touched off the global financial meltdown, wiped out hundreds of financial institutions world-wide and destroyed billions of dollars invested in mortgage-backed securities. Today, lawsuits against Wall Street firms from investors burned by souring mortgage securities continue to meander through the courts.
Yet Mr. Ranieri believes now is the time for nontraditional lenders to enter the market. While the bank-lending standards that created the mortgage crisis were too loose during the housing boom, they are now too tight, Mr. Ranieri says, reducing the supply of mortgages to average borrowers and opening a door for lenders like Shellpoint Partners LLC, a mortgage-finance company he recently founded with two partners.
“The pendulum has swung too far in the other direction,” Mr. Ranieri, 64 years old, said in an email comment. “Former traditional prime borrowers with good credit scores who could comfortably make mortgage payments are being precluded from home ownership due to banks’ rigid criteria.”
Few on Wall Street are as closely tied to the mortgage market as Brooklyn, N.Y. -born Mr. Ranieri, a onetime star bond trader at Salomon Brothers who helped to pioneer mortgage-backed securities in the 1980s. More than two decades later, the market developed by Mr. Ranieri and a handful of financial whiz kids came to a screeching halt. As mortgage bonds, which are backed by millions of Americans’ home-loan payments, defaulted in droves, the ripple effects spread through the global economy, ushering in a devastating financial crisis. Mr. Ranieri also faced a setback in 2008, when a Texas bank he had acquired failed and was seized by regulators.
“Yet Mr. Ranieri believes now is the time for nontraditional lenders to enter the market. While the bank-lending standards that created the mortgage crisis were too loose during the housing boom, they are now too tight, Mr. Ranieri says, reducing the supply of mortgages to average borrowers and opening a door for lenders like Shellpoint Partners LLC, a mortgage-finance company he recently founded with two partners.”
Something smells like dead fish.
My degree isn’t worth the debt! ~ CNNMONEY
Erik Solecki Student debt: $185,000
Degree: Bachelor’s in industrial engineering from Kettering University
Facing college costs that are rising far faster than incomes, many Americans are relying on massive amounts of debt.
Was my college degree worth it? Hell no.
I graduated from one of the top engineering schools in the nation, thinking my starting salary would be between $70,000 and $80,000 a year.
Such a specialized, technical degree is supposed to lead to a great career, so I was willing to take out the debt.
Instead, I was hit with nine months of unemployment after graduating. And now that I finally have a job, I’m making about $15,000 a year less than I had hoped.
Even if I were able to afford the $1,800 payments each month, it will probably take me 30 years to pay off my student loans.
I engineer high-end autos. Ironically, I’ll probably never be able to afford one.
I’m very grateful to have gone to college in an era when student debt was rare. Heck, I even knew a guy who was putting himself through university with the money he made on the Alaska Pipeline construction project.
Those were the days my friend we thought they never end…
I was delvivering pizzas and tutoring other students, both paid around $10/hr. In-state tuition in NC was $500/semester back in ‘88, a room near campus including all utilities was $235/mo.
Sad things is now tuition is something like $2500/semester a room + utils. is around $500 but pizza delivery and tutoring still pay around $10/hr.
Looking at the way things are today, I either wouldn’t go to university at all or take out the most $$ I can, study something that’s useful in other parts of the world (math/CSC/engineering come to mind). After graduation I would show GINNIE MAE the middle finger and leave. Just knowing that I stuck it to the man would be worth the trouble.
or take out the most $$ I can, study something that’s useful in other parts of the world (math/CSC/engineering come to mind). After graduation I would show GINNIE MAE the middle finger and leave.
The problem with that is that other countries won’t let you in unless you can prove that there is no one else there who can do the job. Other countries don’t have H1-B programs nor do they hand out 1 million+ green cards every year.
This is why I always say if you can get a foreign passport for a decent country, do so!
I had 3 summer jobs including one from Dad doing collections. Later I waitressed. I still took some loans but I have to admit a chunk of that was spent on partying and treating friends. My parents did not give me a dime although like I said Dad did provide me w/a job to earn money. If I’d been a bit more disiplined about the loans I think I could have saved at least a few thousand of it.
One of my fellow students worked lobster boats in the summer. Not easy work. He had taken time off before attending school and was more dedicated to his education after seeing what his options were without it. That was the midst of the 80s recession.
This particular school provided education. Besides the Tier III/IV? sports program there were few extras. Even the food plan was of the lower variety. Are there any schools around today so stripped down?
$185k.
Damn. During my time, 4 years at a very good West Coast private school cost a total of ~$120k, including room/board and living expenses.
Scholarships, working summers and during the school year (school helped place me in jobs on campus), and with the help mom and dad could provide equivalent to state school cost left me borrowing about $40k for my education.
All the jobs, and loans were worth every penny.
Good thing I’m saving for my kids’ education starting when they are in diapers.
“Erik Solecki Student debt: $185,000″
Haven’t these people ever heard of going to the State U?
I engineer high-end autos. Ironically, I’ll probably never be able to afford one.
The new normal. Just like the new autoworkers (who are paid $14/hr) can’t afford the $30-40K “family” cars and SUVs (or any new car for that matter) they build.
Hi. I rather suspect that this kid like others who have such massive school debt did not work part time. Even during the summers. But did have a very nice social life that including dining out, concerts, spring break trips, etc… His debt could probably be 1/3 less then it is.
Had to make a run over to the credit union this morn. In the lobby of said financial institution, there are signs promoting Student Living Loans. In other words, you can borrow even more money to have a good time while you’re in school.
Oh, they also had a little table set up to promote (wait for it) home loans. I’m not in the market for one of those, but I did take one of the free sticky note packets.
Hey Erik, if you’re making over 50K, you’re a little whiny baby. And you can’t afford $1800 a month to pay off your loan? You can’t handle your money better than that and you’re an engineer? God help us.
Go cry to your mama you big baby.
Take 1/3 for taxes, and that’s 35k, which is under 3k a month. Take 1800 out of that, and that leaves you 1200 a month. Take 800 out of that for rent, and you have 400, which will barely buy you groceries. That leaves no money for frivolities like electricity and heat.
Erik is hosed.
No Amazing not Hosed
He just has to live with his mom till he is 35 and debt free….by that time what kind of girls will be left for him?
ECB now run by Goldman-Sachs
http://money.cnn.com/2011/06/24/news/international/ecb_trichet_draghi/index.htm?iid=HP_River
I am sure they will be able to extract every last EURO Cent out of those lazy Europeans just as they do from the American taxpayer.
News flash from Tucson: Basing your economy on real estate and construction does not lead to prosperity.
125 Providence teachers get layoff notices
June 24, 2011
PROVIDENCE, R.I.—The Providence Teachers Union is vowing to take city officials to court to fight the layoffs of 125 teachers.
The union has been in a standoff with Mayor Angel Taveras over proposed concessions. Taveras has been looking for $18 million in labor savings from teachers to help with the city’s budget deficit, while union officials have proposed $16 million in concessions.
The union says layoff notices have been sent to 97 teachers because of the budget crisis, while the rest of the layoffs relate to performance issues.
Union leaders said Thursday that they will take the city to court over what they call wrongful terminations. They also said some of the teachers being fired are out on medical and maternity leave. Friday is the last day of school.
So $18 million was requested and they came back and proposed $16 million? And they were unable to reach a compromise at say $17 million? Ridiculous.
As I’ve been saying, the teachers and taxpayers are always punish for administration corruption.
Read the other headlines on this link.
http://article.wn.com/view/2011/03/02/Seattle_school_district_A_culture_of_fear/
This should go over well with the general public…
Greek Finance Chief Presents Austerity Plan- AP
Greece’s finance minister presented details of harsh spending cuts and tax hikes to a parliamentary committee on Friday, after tough negotiations with the country’s international creditors.
Greece should pull an Iceland and default on their debt, as should the ther PIIGS. That would teach our financial overlords (Vampire Squid) a lesson.
I agree 100% they should default, should have the first go round.
IF Greece defaults they will not be able to pay all those government workers and pensions. They are counting on new loans to keep the party going a bit longer.
One of the new taxes being proposed is called a “solidarity tax”. Talk about Orwellian, who are they standing in solidarity with, German bankers?
Short notice…
Pierre Deux shutters all stores, including King Street location
Friday, June 24, 2011
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Pierre Deux, a French country style home furnishing store open about three years at 279 King St., abruptly closed Thursday.
Store managers at all 23 locations across the country were told during a conference call shortly before noon to gather their personal belongings, lock the doors and turn in the keys, according to Susan Lucas with the King Street Marketing Group.
Another one bites the dust…
Good…
House rejects measure to continue US role in Libya
Associated Press
WASHINGTON – The House on Friday overwhelmingly rejected a measure giving President Barack Obama the authority to continue the U.S. military operation against Libya, a major repudiation of the commander in chief.
The vote was 295-123, with Obama losing the support of 70 of his Democrats one day after Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had made a last-minute plea for the mission.
While the congressional action had no immediate effect on American involvement in the NATO-led mission, it was an embarrassment to a sitting president and certain to have reverberations in Tripoli and NATO capitals.
The vote marked the first time since 1999 that either House has voted against a military operation. The last time was over President Bill Clinton’s authority in the Bosnian war.
The House planned a second vote on legislation to cut off money for the operation.
The vote was 295-123, with Obama losing the support of 70 of his Democrats one day after Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had made a last-minute plea for the mission.
I predict that Obama will run into similar trouble in the Senate.
Ever so slowly, the word is starting to get around about the cost of these wars and near-wars. As in, cutting down/off their funding would do a lot to solve our country’s budget problems.
I asked a while back who is worse the person who rapes his enemies wife/daughter or the person that kills his wife because she has been raped. It was after reading a story about the rebels killing women after they had been raped.
This is a similar story from the BBC about Libya: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13760895
At least, they are killing them out of “love”. Yes, this country is worth fighting for, it should be easy to nation build a democracy.
it should be easy to nation build a democracy.
Always throwing in the Cheney-Shurbism’s.
Italian Banks Plunge, German Yield Spread Widens on Debt Concern
By Marco Bertacche, Elisa Martinuzzi and Francesca Cinelli - Jun 24, 2011
UniCredit, Italy’s biggest lender, led the decline, tumbling as much as 8.9 percent. Photographer: Vladimir Weiss/Bloomberg
Italy’s markets watchdog said it will investigate trading in bank shares after the country’s biggest lenders posted their largest decline in two years.
Part of the slump was due to automatic stop-loss trades, an official for the regulator said by telephone today. The watchdog hasn’t ruled out market manipulation. UniCredit SpA (UCG), Italy’s biggest bank, and Intesa Sanpaolo SpA (ISP), the second-largest, led lenders lower, falling 5.5 percent and 4.3 percent respectively. Both stocks were briefly suspended after breaching limits on intraday swings.
Bank stocks tumbled amid concern the European debt crisis may spread just as lenders face scrutiny from regulators over capital levels. Italian 10-year bonds also fell, increasing the additional yield investors demand to hold the securities over benchmark German bunds to the most since the euro was introduced in 1999. European leaders meeting in Brussels today attempted to staunch the crisis, vowing to stave off a Greek default as long as Prime Minister George Papandreou pushes through a package of budget cuts next week.
“Contagion fears keep re-emerging as long as credible, lasting solutions in Greece are pending,” said Christian Weber, a Munich-based strategist at UniCredit.
President ‘becoming an absolute monarch’ on war powers, Dem says
By Pete Kasperowicz - 06/24/11 TheHill
A House Democrat warned Friday that the U.S. president is becoming an “absolute monarch” on matters related to the authority to start a war.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) said Congress must act to limit funding for military operations in Libya in order to correct that trend.
“We have been sliding for 70 years to a situation where Congress has nothing to do with the decision about whether to go to war or not, and the president is becoming an absolute monarch,” Nadler said on the floor. “And we must put a stop to that right now, if we don’t want to become an empire instead of a republic.”
Nadler stressed that he is not talking exclusively about “this president,” meaning President Obama. But he said nonetheless that Congress needs to reassert its authority to declare war, and said this should be done even over concerns that it would damage U.S. credibility with its NATO allies.
“I think that the nation’s credibility, that is to say its promise to go to war as backed by the president, not by the Congress, ought to be damaged,” he said.
“And if foreign countries learn that they cannot depend on American military intervention unless Congress is aboard for the ride, good,” he added. “That’s a good thing.”
In ‘02-’03 you couldn’t find a congresscritter without a big ol’ honkin’ flag pin on their lapel. They feel over themselves trying to prove how patriotic they were to anyone who would listen. If they want to complain about the war powers exercised by the executive then they ought to start with a look at their own actions.
President ‘becoming an absolute monarch’ on war powers, Dem says
See that billinTampa?
This type of thing and US defense spending Constitutional?
What would Ron Paul say?
Even my mom, who is usually pretty clueless, is beginning to notice that we are lurching towards Facism.
My mother’s been talking about walking picket lines. Which will be an interesting experience because I’d have to be there too. Not so much to keep an eye on her, but to handle my father. To put it nicely, he’s losing it.
AZslim- I feel your pain a little. My dad is 80 and and an ex EE; but he ain’t as sharp as he once was and tends to drink too much at the supper table. He says he can say no to the 2nd drink but not the 3rd 4th 5th etc. So we try to get up from the table right after dinner, cuz this sorta cuts him off.
Since mom is blind in one eye we usually invite them over for lunch rather than dinner. That way either one can drive the 40 miles back home, not struggling with night vision or alcohol consumption. But they take our kids whenever they are in town whenever (snowbirds who winter in Green Valley) we ask. So they are aging and it is sad to see but they could go another decade I hope. Avid hikers; and they eat right so they are thin. But I have it great.
My buddy’s mom is losing it to the point where she is psycbo-neurotic with paranoia. Borderline agoraphobia; she won’t drive in winter(snow happens), keeps the blinds closed, doors locked. She has always been neurotic; and raised my buddy cuz dad was drunk. Now he is a dry drunk going on 20 yrs and feels destined to die trapped and unhappy with his loco wife.
She spent the last 3 months vigorously sweating and prepping for the visit of her daughter and family to the point where my buddy couldn’t drop off his daughter for a little Gma love/childcare (he also takes care of his infant as wife is OB/GYN delivery nurse) due to the possibility of messing the house. She wigged out further when daughter showed up, making most of the house “off limits” to 15 year old and 12 year old grandkids.
Oh and she is an ambien zombie.
And my friend kinda behaves like her hate to admit it.
Perhaps another “Nobel Peace Prize” would help?
U.S. Growth Revised Slightly Higher
Orders for Durable Goods Rebound
~WSJ
WASHINGTON—The U.S. economy expanded a little more than previously thought in the first quarter, but the slowdown picture is not changed by the government’s third estimate to gross domestic product data.
Separately, orders for U.S. durable goods rebounded in May, indicating the factory sector is continuing to grow despite weakness in the overall economy.
GDP, the broadest measure of all the goods and services produced in an economy, grew at an inflation-adjusted annual rate of 1.9% in the first three months of 2011, the Commerce Department said Friday. That compares with a 1.8% growth estimate the government reported May 26, …
I’m gonna get me a forty and celebrate!
Unemployment rate in Charlotte region climbs to 10.4%
charlotteobserver.com Friday, Jun. 24, 2011
The Charlotte area’s unemployment rate rose slightly in May as job growth stalled and more job-seekers entered the search.
The region’s rate climbed to 10.4 percent from 10.3 percent in April, according to data released Friday by the N.C. Employment Security Commission. That’s down from 11.7 percent in May 2010, but still above the statewide rate of 9.7 percent.
In Mecklenburg County, the jobless rate rose to 10.2 percent from 9.9 percent the month before.
“North Carolina’s labor market continues to spin its wheels,” John Quinterno of South by North Strategies Ltd., a Chapel Hill economic research firm, said last week. “The recovery has not yet delivered much in the way of meaningful job growth.”
Chicago’s UE rate went from 8.9% to 9.8% MoM April to May. Local media reports it’s “temporary”.
Please reference in context to your earlier post on the flash mobs.
Has anyone here ever worked with a kid who took part in a (gasp!) government-funded summer jobs program? Well, I have.
And you know something? Once you get past the initial training that any employee would need, your new-kid-on-the-job does just fine.
Even better, that summer job may be the start that the kid needs to go on to a productive life. So, funding for summer jobs programs? I’m all for it.
Man, one of my memories of Upstate, NY (in the late 90’s) is that EVERYONE was moving to Charlotte.
““The recovery has not yet delivered much in the way of meaningful job growth.””
No kidding, Mr.-can’t-figure-out-which-direction-to-name-his-company.
South by North Strategies? Why would any damn fool hire a company this confused?
“In North America, moderate weather, good schools, and established Chinese communities are making such cities as Vancouver big draws. The median price of a detached house in greater Vancouver rose 13 percent in 2010, to a record C$774,000 ($792,000) from C$685,000 at the end of 2009, according to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.
In the U.S., Chinese buyers have helped support home sales and prices in Silicon Valley and Hawaii, while they are an increasing presence in Las Vegas and New York, according to local brokers. Chinese accounted for 9 percent of U.S. home purchases by foreigners in the 12 months ended in March of this year and last, up from 5 percent from the same period in 2009, according to a survey released in May by the National Association of Realtors. That’s second to Canadians, who accounted for 23 percent of international sales. Overall, foreign buyers accounted for almost 8 percent of the $1.07 trillion in U.S. housing sales during the 12 months ended in March.
Low-cost homes are the lure in Las Vegas, where prices plunged 58 percent from their 2006 peak, says Betty Chan, who markets herself on her website as “Las Vegas’ #1 Chinese Lady Real Estate Broker.” “They don’t flip,” she says. “Chinese like to keep.”
“They don’t flip,” she says. “Chinese like to keep.”
Wait until they see how their tenants treat their property.
Also, something I’ll bet the absentee landlords don’t understand: sticks and drywall houses aren’t as durable as those made of brick and mortar (like the ones back home).
Many also don’t understand renters rights.
They will soon enough when the tenant is a day late on the rent and the Chinese LL starts doing a little self eviction like they did back in their OLD country… and the tenant pulls a uzi on them…..who will back down first?
Inquiring minds want to know!
Good point, In Colorado.
Chinese landlord down the street got quite a lesson in how tenants treat property. After the Lout family moved out last March, said landlord had quite the cleanup and fixup job. Took him four and a half months to do it.
Then a bunch of partying students moved in. Complete with keg that they proudly placed by the front door.
Well, one of their parties was big and loud enough that us sleep-loving neighbors called 911 and invited the Tucson Police Department.
Well, come to the party the cops sure did! And those big blue meanies posted an unruly gathering tag on the window next to the front door. Kiddies had to pay a fine and keep the tag in place for six months. Any additional unruly gatherings would have subjected them to higher fines.
The kiddies stayed quiet, the outdoor keg disappeared, and they moved out quietly after the spring semester ended.
I noticed the landlord didn’t have as much fixing and cleaning after the kiddies left. So, maybe just maybe he’s learning about the importance of screening tenants.
http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=188788
Washington, DC – Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Vice Chair of the House Republican Conference, and Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) introduced legislation today that would stop the Obama Administration’s costly bailouts of Greece and other European nations. Since the bailout money is being dispensed through the International Monetary Fund (IMF), their bill would rescind the IMF’s authority to spend up to $108 billion of U.S. taxpayer money which was made available to fund these disastrous bailouts.
“At a time when the federal government is borrowing $5 billion every day on top of a $14 trillion national debt, I am gravely concerned by America’s growing involvement in the ‘gathering storm’ of European bailouts,” said Rep. McMorris Rodgers. “The European debt crisis was caused by too much spending and borrowing and that crisis will not be solved by more spending and borrowing. A ‘Euro-TARP’ is the wrong approach because it’s creating a ‘moral hazard’ that will lead to larger counties — particularly Spain and Italy — standing in line for U.S. tax dollars tomorrow. America should have no part in it.”
“We haven’t even begun to seriously address our own economic difficulties, so it makes no sense to continue bailing out failing European countries,” said Sen. DeMint. “If we don’t reverse our reckless fiscal course, America will be the one in need of a bailout. We need to stop the spending, stop the debt, and pass a balanced budget amendment.”
“American taxpayers have seen more bailouts than they can stomach, and the last thing they should have to worry about are their hard-earned tax dollars being used to rescue a foreign government,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) who introduced the Senate bill with Sen. DeMint.
In 2009, the Democratic Congress approved the Obama Administration’s request to increase U.S. funding to the IMF by $108 billion. Republicans opposed the measure. Today’s bill rescinds that authorization, returns any unobligated money to the U.S. General Fund, and specifies that the money be used for deficit reduction. The House bill number is H.R. 2313.
The European Union charter requires that every EU member have a debt-to-GDP ratio lower than 60 percent and a budget deficit below 3 percent. Virtually none of the EU members meet that standard.
Since the European debt crisis broke in early 2010, the IMF has committed $353 billion to bailing out European governments, although most of that money hasn’t been dispensed yet. The U.S. is the leading funder of the IMF.
On March 24, 2010, Rep. McMorris Rodgers was the first Member of Congress to publicly oppose U.S. involvement in a European bailout. Greece became the first country to receive an IMF bailout seven weeks later.
Wmbz :
COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - All eight suspects are in custody after a brutal attack in Five Points early Monday morning which left the teenage victim in critical condition, according to Columbia police.
http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=14965429
I’ve heard that Five Points isn’t the nabe that one would want to be in during the wee hours of the morning. It’s a pretty rough area.
http://www.itulip.com/forums/showthread.php/19599-The-Next-Ten-Years--Part-I-There-will-be-blood-Eric-Janszen?p=200282
Yep.
For those that don’t own houses how about a $2000-3000 cut in Credit card debt?…..
Seems like he agrees with me.
———————————–
The mistake of both the left and the right is thinking that we can escape an output gap without facing up to the politically unpopular task of demanding that creditors take a loss on loans taken out during the credit bubble era.
We need a private sector debt cut, not a tax cut.
Trillions in mortgage debt against fictitious housing value remains on the balance sheets of households after home prices deflated 25%.
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/feeds/ftc-says-yes-to-facebook-activity-inclusion-in-background-checks/3973
More creepy Big Brother intrusiveness on private individuals.
Free HBO this weekend (woo-hoo!!!) so wifey and I are planning to record & watch Too Big To Fail, despite the elevated level of irritation I anticipate from watching an insider’s whitewashed version of what actually went down.
The Big Small Screen
David Thomson
June 23, 2011 | 12:00 am
Too Big to Fail
HBO
…
Too Big to Fail has the strengths and the failings of the book it comes from, a best-seller by Andrew Ross Sorkin, which had the subtitle The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System—and Themselves. At the time of the crisis in September 2008 that turned on the failure of Lehman Brothers, Sorkin was a New York Times reporter and columnist, and it was his business to have the “inside” stuff, so he was able to publish his book just thirteen months after the peak of the crisis. He is smart, brisk, and aware that his career depends on licensed access: insiders will tell him good and bad stuff so long as he doesn’t damage them. This way he and the insiders can last, with “access” gradually diluting truth and responsibility. Like any TV pundit, Sorkin has the assurance that says, “Sure, I can answer your very difficult question now, quickly and amusingly—and don’t let’s bother about doubt, it only makes people uneasy. So just latch on to my blow-by-blow version of what happened. Really, it’s like a thriller.”
…
Boo hoo on the tougher lending standards. Just don’t even think about buying a house, and you won’t have to worry about qualifying.
WHAT THE FOOK DO THESE CRYBABIES THINK CAUSED THE OUTRIGHT COLLAPSE OF OUR FINANCIAL SYSTEM?
P.S.
REAL ESTATE
JUNE 25, 2011
Tighter Lending Crimps Housing
By NICK TIMIRAOS And MAURICE TAMMAN
The percentage of mortgage applications rejected by the nation’s largest lenders increased last year, spotlighting how banks’ cautious lending practices are hampering the nascent housing market recovery.
In all, the nation’s 10 largest mortgage lenders denied 26.8% of loan applications in 2010, an increase from 23.5% in 2009, according to an analysis by The Wall Street Journal of mortgage data filed with banking regulators.
Although lenders were expected to pull back from the freewheeling conditions that helped inflate the housing bubble, some economists argue they are now too conservative, and say that with the U.S. economy still wobbly, mortgages need to be easier to obtain for qualified borrowers, not harder.
“As the noose on credit availability tightens, credit is being choked off at a time when the housing market is extremely fragile,” says Laurie Goodman, senior managing director at Amherst Securities Group LP.
Christopher Thornberg, a housing economist at Beacon Economics in Los Angeles, counters that “banks are doing what they need to do” to change lending standards in the wake of a “crazy bubble.”
He adds, “You had decades where credit standards were tougher than they are even now.”
…
Linky