Bits Bucket for June 18, 2013
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.
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Name:Ben Jones
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
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A Brief History of American Welfare State
RealClearHistory.com | 05/09/2013 | Brian Vanyo
According to deficit forecasts in President Barack Obama’s latest budget, the national debt will surpass $20 trillion by 2016. If this occurs (and it is almost certain to occur), then Obama will add more to the national debt during his presidency than all prior presidents combined , despite collecting projected record-high tax receipts each year of his last term in office.
The largest expenditure in Obama’s budget — and the largest federal outlay in every budget since 1970 — is an expense item labeled “payments for individuals,” which includes spending on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, unemployment benefits, disability payments, and other federal welfare subsidies. These payments comprised 65 percent of all federal spending in 2012 and are expected to grow to 70 percent in 2016. (By contrast, national defense spending was 19 percent of the federal budget in 2012 and will decrease to only 14 percent in 2016.)
The obvious solution to this is Soylent Green.
Silly goose.
The obvious solution is higher and higher taxes and bigger and bigger government. Plus amnesty.
No the obvious solution is to declare a war to use them up as cannon fodder.
…or maybe “Carousel” like on Logan’s Run.
Most of this spending was already baked in the cake.
Do you mean the Yellow Cakes that Saddam baked?
This was the obvious point that anyone but Banana would see.
The other thing that is tough to predict is the size of the deficit. The deficit has been falling, this year it will be down to 600B. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that it could fall into a very manageable range of a few hundred B. To do this, rates on bonds have to stay low as they roll over. There are scenarios where this could work.
The bigger issues relate to the efficiency and structure of our spending. I’ve said it before and I’ll repeat it - less money needs to be spent in the last 6-12 months of life and retirement in general, more money needs to be spent on long term capital improvements and on the health and education of young people and working people. To me it’s not how much we spend as much as it is how we spend it.
Hey Lib,
When are you guys going to sell the family vacation house in Sussex Co DE?
I don’t have a vacation house in Delaware, I was at a cousin’s house this weekend. Not a vacation house either, as they live there year-round.
I pointed out yesterday, no plans to buy one anytime soon, prices shouldn’t go up. And if they do… even more reason not to buy. I’m betting they’ll fall a bit in the next few years.
If you were paying attention, you’d see prices have been sliding in DE since 2007.
And even before 2007 they were overpriced, probably back to the late 90s.
No secret there.
The bubble began in 1996 in DE.
Joe this is what I want if I get to the point of having to pay someone $8 to wipe my butt….maybe my life is not worth living any longer and I would want a Kevorkian type to end my life early…..and not waste the money or put my friends family through that suffering.
But we need Polly to make sure no one gets sued or arrested…
“The other thing that is tough to predict is the size of the deficit. The deficit has been falling, this year it will be down to 600B.”
Great news. Only 600B!!
VIVA OBAMA!!!
PS: In FY 2007, the deficit was $150B under evil Booooooosh!!
Sure there is that, but it’s no excuse for continuing to bake more and larger cakes with the same recipie. At this point ts is pretty sure the next guy can say it is all the Obama/Bush twins’ fault and just keep accelerating down the same path.
Yes, yes - I know. I read the memo.
When democrats are in power - There is nothing that they can do. It was all baked in the cake. The bankers control everything. We might as well keep the devils we know.
When republicans are in power - ALL the evil of the world can be traced back to them. They must be voted out of office immediately. The fate of the planet, women and children depend on it.
The cake the numbers were baked in is a demographic cake, not a Democratic or a Republican cake, a demographic one.
The demographic numbers are there and they have been there all along.
We are arriving somewhat behind schedule, and still the pantry is empty.
Never mind the demographic numbers.
If Obama didn’t give $500 billion to Solyndra there would be plenty of money to pay for everything else.
What are the demographics of the free sh*t army?
“demographics of the free sh*t army”
Do you mean the permanent democrat supermajority?
When republicans are in power ??
Which Republicans do you speak of ??
The Republican party of Lincoln ??
Or Grant ??
Or Roosevelt ??
Or Eisenhower ??
Or Bush/Cheney ??
How ignorant do you have to be to make this statement. “Baked in” is still subject to veto with every single bill that passes congress. The president has 100% full authority to veto any budget that congress passes. He can tell them to go back and fix it at any point. He can give clear direction on temporary bills he will pass to keep government functioning while this mess is resolved. If budget is getting through, it is his stamp of approval on it. He has final say, and you can not let him off. I said the same thing about bush and clinton, and I will say the same thing about the next guy. The president is where the buck stops. He isn’t king, and can be overridden, but the point is, he was given the power to say “no F$@king way”. And he isn’t. So don’t be ignorant and say “oh it’s baked in, poor him”. We elect the president to stand the F up and put a stop to nonsense. If this guy won’t do it, hopefully the next one will, and we can judge this one as another A-hole with bad judgement and a sell-out nature.
Some accurate, some really wrong.. let me educate your sorry butt about fed budgets as I despise BS politics and half-truths.. I also despise the notion that the President has the say in this country about most of this stuff, esp with this Congress.. so, grow the hell up bannana head.. here are some facts, little boy.. Obama Admin largely owes the 2009 budget and will largely own the 2014 budget when he leaves.. Bush largely owned the 2008 budget.. redo you simple, stupid math now.. also, I would suspect 99% of the economists would acknowledge that economies, once pointed in a direction, don’t turn over night, especially big ones and most especailly big ones with a do-nothing Congress…
so, grow up and keep your BS politics to yourself.. I’m not a huge fan of this administration and I was less of a fan of the last.. however, despite that, I’m even less of a fan of this Congress and the last.. so, stuff it on your Obama Admin comments..
If we don’t like the way things are going, should we just name the electorate?
Keep lying cabana boy. What goes around comes around.
“The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can’t pay its own bills. Increasing America’s debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that the buck stops here. Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better.”
Senator Barack Obama (D-IL)
Speech Given on U.S. Senate Floor Objecting To Raising Debt Ceiling Limit
March 16, 2006
sounds like someone you could almost vote for.
It was interesting to see, this AM, O’s angry, almost spitting insistence on his surveillance program. Shocking, actually. And I note that PuffHo has taken it off the feed. But, before they did, the mask was stripped away and it was rather chilling. However, it’s good to see the man behind the mask, because it does confirm what some have suspected and been shouted down.
Nothing would surprise me about this individual.
“Nothing would surprise me”
http://mobile.wnd.com/2012/09/claim-obama-hid-gay-life-to-become-president/
Geez, goonie, MUST you post that stuff? (NTTAWWT) I read a good part of that guy Madsen’s screed on this matter some time back and each time you post this, it sends me off into fits of hilarity, and I can barely catch my breath. These excerpts are tame compared to what Madsen wrote. I just can’t get that image of Bill Frist and Obama out of my mind. STOP IT! STOP IT!
Oh, the humanity.
It’s Pride Week, just trying to show some love for our gay brothers and sisters, including our gay president.
Looked on youtube, but couldn’t find this; anyone seen it online yet?
you really have no clue how it all works, do you ?
You must be new here. Cabana boy and Slithers are the resident neocon sock puppet trolls.
As oppose to everyone else here who is a moderate, indpendent who just happens to vote 100% Democrat and agrees with 99.98% of what Rachel Maddow says. But don’t you dare call them liberals, since that would be using labels and labels aren’t cool.
As oppose to everyone else here who is a moderate, indpendent who just happens to vote 100% Democrat
Don’t forget the moderate independents who just happened to vote for Ron Paul…
Yeah, because facts have a liberal bias.
People who vote for Ron Paul and Gary Johnson are even worse than liberals, because those votes were stolen from Romney.
because those votes were stolen from Romney.
Ha!! That’s funny…
Something has to belong to someone before it can be stolen from them. Romney was never remotely close to owning my vote—way too schmoozy, way too smarmy, way too connected, way too in the pocket of big biz, way too large a participant in globalization, need I go on?
What are they protesting?
High taxes.
Bigger and bigger government.
Fraud, waste and abuse in government.
—————————-
Protesters Back in Streets of Brazilian Cities
ABC News ^ | 18 June 2013 | Bradley Brooks
More than 100,000 people took to the streets in overwhelmingly peaceful protests in at least eight cities Monday, demonstrations that voiced the deep frustrations Brazilians feel about carrying heavy tax burdens but receiving woeful returns in public education, health, security and transportation.
In Sao Paulo, Brazil’s economic hub, at least 65,000 protesters gathered at a small, treeless plaza then broke into three directions in a Carnival atmosphere, with drummers beating out samba rhythms as the crowds chanted anti-corruption jingles. They also focused on the cause that initially sparked the protests last week — a 10-cent hike in bus and subway fares.
Violence was seen in Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte and the southern city of Porto Alegre. Police clashed with clusters of protesters in those cities, at times using tear gas to disperse them. In Rio, about 50 protesters tried to break into the state assembly building before being driven off. In Porto Alegre, some protesters set a bus on fire and threw rocks at empty commuter trains.
Progressives - The biggest fraud perpetrated on the world since one hour Martinizing.
From someone I know who lives there and is a native:
“To explain quickly: Bus fare went up 20 brazilian cents (=US$ 10 cents), which is nothing, but it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Transportation sucks, corruption, lack of infrastructure, health, education…
One month ago, the São Paulo State governor admitted that if the population knew about how much corruption there was going on, “there would not be enough guillotines in the world”.
People have been fed up for a while and now with all the money being spent on fancy stadiums that will become white elephants and are just making a select handful VERY rich, Brazil finally woke up.
The protests last night were incredible. over 300,000 people all over the country, in all major cities. “
This article is outstanding. There is a lot of stuff about Fannie/Freddie in addition to the paragraphs I have highlighted.
Lenders seek court actions against homeowners years after foreclosure
http://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/lenders-seek-court-actions-against-homeowners-years-after-foreclosure/2013/06/15/3c6a04ce-96fc-11e2-b68f-dc5c4b47e519_story.html?hpid=z1
A few interesting paragraphs:
…The 42-year-old is among the many homeowners being taken to court by their lenders long after their houses were taken in foreclosure. Lenders are filing new motions in old foreclosure lawsuits and hiring debt collectors to pursue leftover debt, plus court fees, attorneys’ fees and tens of thousands in interest that had been accruing for years.
It’s an aftershock of the foreclosure crisis, and most homeowners don’t know it’s coming…
…Banks and lenders have rarely resorted to pursuing people for remaining debt once the home was taken. Before 2008, since property values were consistently increasing, the value of the home usually covered the mortgage amount, and lenders could make their money back by reselling the properties.
Van Order said the agency did not pursue homeowners very often for deficiencies during his tenure.
But the mortgage meltdown changed the equation.
Suing people immediately after foreclosure was problematic. For one thing, lenders usually could not get more money out of already broke homeowners. But, if lenders waited a few years, some forecast that people would have money again once the economy recovered…
…States have different statutes of limitation on how long they allow lenders to pursue deficiency judgments, ranging from 30 days to 20 years. In Kansas, a deficiency judgment must be sought at the time of foreclosure. If a judge feels the bid at foreclosure sale isn’t “fair value,” the judge can deny or reduce the judgment.
In Maryland, it’s three years. However, there’s a little-known exemption for most mortgage documents that gives debt collectors 12 years to sue homeowners, plus another 12 years to collect the debt and on top of that a one-time renewal of 12 years for a total of 36 years.
“That’s 36 years that lenders have to go after people,” said Russack, whose firm has taken on 80 bankruptcy cases in the past four months, all of which involve deficiency judgments.
The rate of deficiency judgments has increased sharply in Maryland in recent years, The Post’s analysis shows.
In 2006, the owners of 19 properties in Maryland were ordered to pay their deficiencies totaling at least $432,115. Six years later, the owners of 120 properties were pursued for $13.6 million…
No FB dollar shall be allowed to escape.
cuff and stuff em!!
Is anybody here at this message board surprised at this?
Um…all the people who have been wailing about everyone living for free while not paying their mortgages?
Hee Haw!
You can’t get blood from a turnip that spent all their money while they were living for free for years. What are they gonna do, repo the beats 6 years old flat screens? Or maybe they could get a judgment against his now ex-wifes breast implants.
Doubtful, but a reminder can’t hurt. And what this might mean for bankruptcy filings is rather interesting. I imagine there are a bunch of FB’s who went out and purchased another property a few years after a foreclosure. Oops.
I imagine there are a bunch of FB’s who went out and purchased another property a few years after a foreclosure. Oops.
Why is that an “oops?”
They’ll still get the keep their newer property (remember, it’s encumbered with an associated mortgage), but still shed the old worthless debt that is unsecured.
Unless they bought it with cash, I don’t see the issue.
It’s a huge oops. They’re going to have to file for BK and give up the new house _or_ have a judgment filed against them and attached to the house as a lien. Meanwhile, they could’ve rented for a while and see how things played out.
Moreover, why rush out and buy after a f/c? Why not learn some lessons and re-evaluate your life?
Finally, why buy in an inflated market? I really doubt most f/c “victims” went out and bought something super affordable or bought with cash. And, if they did, see my description of “oops” from above.
They don’t automatically have to give up the new house. That’s where homestead laws come in.
They don’t have to give it up… they can just watch liens be slapped on it.
Again, it would’ve been smart to wait, declare BK, and then buy. And why not do some introspection in the meantime?
It’s a huge oops. They’re going to have to file for BK and give up the new house _or_ have a judgment filed against them and attached to the house as a lien.
joe, you aren’t a BK lawyer, are you? I’m not either, but my understanding is that their new house will be relatively unaffected by the BK. They will indicate to the court their desire to keep it, and the court will not void their existing mortgage, and not return the house to the lienholder.
The lienholder on the old house may attempt to seek a lien on the new house; that will likely be what inspire the FB to file to BK, if they’re smart. My understanding is that the court will not attach a new lien to the new house, above the value of any equity in it at the time of filing. If they bought with zero-down or close to it, then they have no equity to protect.
Please correct me if any of the above is incorrect… I think your interpretation is quite flawed, though, joe.
After living for free in a house owned by the husband, with both the spouses saving tons of money they walked away.
The wife bought the new house.
The husband went BK.
Only the husband had signed for the old mortgage.
The wife divorced the husband.
He pays her support.
But still lives with her.
Today’s Family Law 101.
OK, I see what Patrick says and that is a definite possibility… there are ways to “work around” the liens and debt. But wow, what a way to go through life.
Banks & other lenders are not set up to do this…I smell a Collection Agency rat….You new it was coming…Just a matter of time…Lenders just hand off the rights to collect for 70 cents on the dollar collected…
Or better still, bundle up rights to the lawsuits and sell tranches of them to investors.
The banks team with law firms to do this.
In Maryland, it’s three years. However, there’s a little-known exemption for most mortgage documents that gives debt collectors 12 years to sue homeowners, plus another 12 years to collect the debt and on top of that a one-time renewal of 12 years for a total of 36 years.
The depth of the term “debt slave” is going to reveal itself to these people. That house they absolutely had to have is truly going to feel like a granite slab chained their neck. I wonder if the press will repress these stories. I’d expect any current sales numbers to plummet like a rock once people understood the risks they were taking on.
Not sure if it made the HBB but there’s this video making the internet rounds claiming a SWAT team was used to collect on an unpaid student loan. Can’t say I’ve seen it offered from a source I consider reliable. I’m thinking we might be closing in on the actual correction if the approach has changed from flogging the racehorse to produce sales to dragging the failing non producers off to the glue factory for the final shakedown.
I’d expect any current sales numbers to plummet like a rock once people understood the risks they were taking on.
And that is the crux of the biscuit… right there.
The risk associated with buying a house at these exorbitantly inflated prices is massive. The losses are huge. The rewards are elusive and thin.
BEWARE
It would be if people finally understood.
But that’s the trick. I don’t think they will ever learn.
Biscuits have cruxes? Like hot cruxed buns?
What is surprising is that there are only 120 of these judgments in a recourse state where there must be thousands of foreclosures. The impression I got was that they were choosing these cases not as much to regain funds, but to make examples of FBs to serve as a deterrent.
So I wonder why they went after Jose Benavides (the 42-year old), who didn’t seem to have much in assets or income, or much value as poster boy for irresponsibility. The people they should really go after are the refis.
It sounds like some banks are doing it more than others, and that they don’t all have the same standards as to whom they go after.
Agree. I just think there are some more worth going after than others, like SMYNOZIAK, LYNN, or the “feisty nurse” or a host of others who serially refi’d and walked. Repo the silicone! There’s a deterrent…
I believe SMYNOZIAK, LYNN, had to pay back the 1.25 million dollar cash out refi money she was wrongfully loaned out of her 18 million dollar Robo signer whistleblower settlement.
I don’t know what happened to “feisty nurse”.
I’m curious Polly…
If I was a shareholder of one of the lenders, AND that lender DIDN’T pursue valid claims, would I have grounds to sue the bank for breaching their duties to shareholders?
I’ll buy one share of each large bank, and join a class action, RW!!
The attorneys would get rich, and you would get $0.015 for the 30 pages of forms you get to fill out.
I guess my point is whether the banks have a legal duty to sue.
I know in our business, if a person wrongs us in some way, we would feel obligated to sue that person, unless the cost of suit/risk of losing outweighed the benefit. Factoring into this would also be the financial capabilities of the person on the other side…what good is it to sue someone with no ability to pay if/when you win?
It is subject to the business judgement rule which means you can’t win unless someone can convince the jury that the leaders of the bank, using their business judgement, couldn’t come to the conclusion that it was better to skip it.
If you read the article, the history of getting payouts on these is terrible. Probably because in the past, people most often lost their houses to foreclosure when something terrible happened to their finances - disability preventing them from working, death of a bread winner, etc. Strategic default wasn’t common. But, with 30+ years to go after people? That is a long time. And a small local bank has a reputation in the community to maintain. They want you to trust them. Citibank isn’t really worried about its reputation as a nice guy.
The suit would have a very high bar. You would have to convince a jury that the leaders of the bank purposefully ignored money that was out there for the taking and that it wouldn’t cost more to identify the right people to sue and that the lawyers fees wouldn’t eat up any proceeds.
And even with all that, I’m not sure what you would get. It isn’t a breach of fiduciary duty - president of the bank isn’t a fiduciary to all its shareholders. You might be able to get the board of directors replaced. You could look for places where their SEC filings were wrong. I’m just not sure if there is any money in it as a civil suit.
That’s actually logical (see my comment above). We’ve had to sue on a couple of occasions, and declined on others (when the cost would outweigh the benefit), but these were all cases when it was highly likely that the other side had the money. We did feel an obligation to do the math though, and filed suit when it was economically the right decision.
We still hold though that every business school should have a class on litigation, so people understand what a black hole (of time and money) that it is, so people would seek to avoid such conflict, rather than fight.
It is interesting that so far, only a small number of suits seem to have been filed…I wonder if they were trial balloons (pardon the pun). Last year was 120, this year is more…when looking at millions of foreclosures since 2008, this is a very small number.
It isn’t a breach of fiduciary duty - president of the bank isn’t a fiduciary to all its shareholders.
I thought corporate officers did have a fiduciary duty as well; is that not true?
I thought corporate officers did have a fiduciary duty as well; is that not true?
The American Bar Association concurs:
“Generally, officers owe the same fiduciary duties as directors.”
Relevant link from the ABA:
http://apps.americanbar.org/buslaw/newsletter/0003/materials/tip3.pdf
If you take on mortgage debt at current massively inflated housing prices, you’ll enslave yourself for the rest of your life.
“Debt is bondage.”~ Suze Orman, May 11, 2013
Don’t Be A Debt Donkey®
Realtors® are liars
“They want you to believe that distorted prices are the result of speculation and expect you to invoke the word. The truth is that it is price fixing.”
BINGO
Somebody has to keep those hidden Level 3 assets worth something.
People’s yachts are at stakes, for god’s sake! Won’t somebody please think of the yachts?!
Someone’s paying attention:
The Guardian
Big banks lose 2.4m customers in protest against scandals
Move your Money campaign says new figures show mass exodus from UK’s five biggest banks as clients vote with feet
“An estimated 2.4 million customers quit the UK’s five biggest banks in 2012 as people “voted with their feet” in response to a string of scandals, according to latest figures.
The Move Your Money UK campaign and website, which issued the figures, said they showed a “mass movement” away from the big banking groups: Lloyds, Royal Bank of Scotland/NatWest, Barclays, HSBC and Santander.
Laura Willoughby, Move Your Money chief executive, said: “The constant slew of scandals last year has opened the floodgates, and people are beginning to realise they don’t have to put up with the arrogance of the big banks.”
The Libor rate-fixing affair, bankers’ bonuses and a wave of scandals and regulatory clampdowns involving the mis-selling of products such as payment protection insurance and interest rate swaps have all fuelled anti-bank sentiment, and created an appetite for challenger brands within the sector. The campaign group said local, ethical and mutual financial service providers were among those that had increased their customer base significantly.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2013/jun/13/big-banks-lose-customers-protest
They need you more than you need them.
Exactamundo. And we’re starting to realize that.
I left B of A years ago, and I will never go back to a big bank. Unfortunately, most people are supporting the behemoths.
“I left B of A years ago, and I will never go back to a big bank. Unfortunately, most people are supporting the behemoths.”
I’m no fan of BoA. But the reason I stick with them is because there’s an ATM/Brach of their on every corner in the country. When I travel, and I travel a lot, I like that. On several occasions I’ve been on the road and needed a cashier’s check, or needed to transfer money, or needed to take out more cash than my daily limit allowed. It was nice to be able to walk into a BoA branch 1000 miles from home and do all that. With a small local bank, that would not be possible.
You’re the problem.
With a small local bank, that would not be possible.
I’ll call BS.
With my small, regional credit union, I have access to free ATMs all over the place–not only every CU in the country, but almost every 7-11 has one as well, as they’re on the CUSWIRL network. I also can do transfers from anywhere, with just a cellphone, deposit paper-checks without walking into a branch, etc..
Next reason to stick with a massive behemoth that endangers the global economy?
You don’t need a branch to take out money over your limit or transfer funds; you need a phone or a computer. Heck, you don’t need a branch to deposit a check. My bank will let you do that by taking a picture of it with your smart phone.
Cashier’s checks are a little harder. The one time I needed one my bank got it to me in three days. I’m sure overnight service was available, but the three days was free.
And my bank refunds fees that another bank charges for using the other bank’s ATM.
If all you’re doing is using the BoA as an electronic mattress, then they probably aren’t making much money off you.
It’s the credit card users and the late fees and the high interest underbelly that’s making the money. Elizabeth Warren talked about this in Maxed Out. In a lecture to Citigroup execs, she suggested that if they practiced even a modicum of discretion as to whom they approved credit cards, they could eliminate half of their customer’s BK. The bankers gasped and said, “but that’s where all our profit is.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ds1D1rOVm1g
I don’t think the banks are making serious money off of depositors when the central banks give them all the funds they can handle practically for free. They make their money off of the debt slaves, who pretty much have volunteered to put up with their “arrogance”.
How about a Stop Buying Things You Cannot Pay For protest?
Trust fund babies rule, worker bees drool.
Editorials
May 21, 2013
Editorial: Unequal distribution of wealth
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Ever since the Reagan Republican administration, the elite 1 percent of rich Americans has reaped ever-greater wealth. Their share of U.S. assets stayed flat from the 1940s to 1980, then spurted upward like a rocket.
Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman coined the phrase, “the great divergence,” for the spreading gap between the U.S. middle class and privileged millionaires. Journalist Timothy Noah spotlighted the disturbing trend in his landmark 2012 book, The Great Divergence: America’s Growing Inequality Crisis And What We Can Do About It. He wrote:
Last week, writing in The New York Times, Noah said snowballing enrichment of the top 1 percent and decline of the middle class can be seen in the relentless disappearance of labor unions that once guaranteed good careers for high school graduates. Today, he said, “only about 7 percent of the private-sector labor force is covered by union contracts. … Six decades ago, it was nearly 40 percent.”
But another problem, he said, is the “growing skills-based gap” in the new Information Age. The computerized world economy lets people with good education and knowledge find high-paying specialized careers — while marginal high school graduates face ever-dimmer prospects.
Noah urged universal preschool for 4-year-olds to boost their learning levels — and he urged drastic reductions in the cost of college, to give more Americans opportunity to overcome the skills-based gap.
A grossly unequal society is disgusting and disheartening. Everything possible must be done to offer better opportunity to those being left behind.
“outside the walls of opulent villas.”
the U.S. is the opulent villa.
the U.S. is the opulent
villavillian.Wonder if this has anything to do with shipping 35 million of your poorest citizens out of your country to the USA?
Income inequality is actually declining in Latin America even as it continues to increase in the United States.
As one internet wag said in a very pointed post, “A poem is not immigration policy”.
Keep that wretched refuse coming in from all those teeming shores.
Where is the part on Section 8 housing, SNAP card and free obamacare?
Our own shores are teeming enough. Mission accomplished.
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
Your human trafficking Seven-11 owners
Your indentured servant nail salon workers
Your scammers, your grifters, your parasites, your homemade weapons experts,
Your techies yearning to toady to corporate will and undercut citizens.
It’s all good!
The land of oppoortoonitty!
DING DING DING DING Banana.
You import 30 million illiterate peasants into the country and income inequality increases? SHOCKING!!! Next you know states where 1/2 the kids don’t speak English - like Texas, California and Arizona - also have poor education results, while states were everyone speaks English like Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, have excellent results.
Solution of course…..bring in 30 million more illiterate peasants. That’ll solve everything.
VIVA OBAMA!! SI SE PUEDE!!
Republicans love illegal labor.
People piss and moan about how the one-percenters have gamed the system and then they keep playing their game.
If you don’t like it that these people end up with all the money then quit sending money to them.
then quit sending money to them.
How does one do this? Move to a cabin in the woods and forage for food?
By making conscious decisions to not give money to large banks and corporations.
Bank with credit unions.
Don’t pay for cable TeeVee.
Use your public library.
Buy and sell on craigslist.
Pay cash.
Get out of debt.
Oppose government borrowing. You are the one who has to pay it back, at interest.
Credit unions, public tv, public libraries…
Sounds like the way to avoid sending money to the 1%ers is to make use of all those New Deal socialist/commie government thingies.
No wonder the 1%, and their acolytes, are so hot to destroy them.
i wonder what wealth inequality numbe4rs would look like if you exlcuded members of the FIRE economy.
probably be more like yesteryear.
as they would say on mythbusters “well there’s your problem”.
“Sounds like the way to avoid sending money to the 1%ers is to make use of all those New Deal socialist/commie government thingies.”
Too bad the 1%ers and the Big Government Leviathan are collaborating on picking our pockets. There is no escape.
then quit sending money to them.
How does one do this? Move to a cabin in the woods and forage for food?
Just stop paying interest in any form.
“Just stop paying interest in any form.”
But some want to be a junkie so desperately that they volunteer.
Well, we know the bad guys are winning when people think they have no choice. Even if it’s all just in their mind.
“Too bad the 1%ers and the Big Government Leviathan are collaborating on picking our pockets. There is no escape.”
OMG, I am about to agree with Nick…
I was just thinking the same thing while over on some other website.
People piss and moan about how the one-percenters have gamed the system and then they keep playing their game.
If you don’t like it that these people end up with all the money then quit sending money to them.
If you don’t like it that these people end up with all the money then quit sending money to them.
Love it.
Aka “starve the beast!”
Our debt is the 1%-ers’ wealth.
darell was right.
Exactly.
“Our debt is the 1%-ers’ wealth.”
+1 That’s why I don’t carry any debt.
+1 That’s why I don’t carry any debt.
+1.
It sounds great, until you reflect on how the Fed sent trillions and trillions of dollars to the Wall Street scammers and grifters who would otherwise rightfully have gone belly up after the Fall 2008 financial collapse.
How would my refusal to send money to them possibly matter one iota, given the printing press technology owner’s bailout authority?
How would my refusal to send money to them possibly matter one iota, given the printing press technology owner’s bailout authority?
I suspect that the debt slavery of J6P is the only thing that gives the whirling, circling bowl of money between the Fed and Wall St. any credibility. If nobody is actually on the hook to do real work for free in the future does anybody care what paper or digits come out of DC or NYC?
DC is not issuing money. It is borrowing it from the bank in your name since you are not keeping your debt donkey wagon loaded up on your own.
it is borrowing it from the bank in your name
Oh, so they’re not just printing it up?
How would my refusal to send money to them possibly matter one iota,
I think the money from the “little people” does still matter—every little bit helps, as through the magic of fractional reserve lending, then turn those little bits into much larger chunks. But I believe some amount of deposits are still required as the root of that leverage.
Except that the banks can borrow what little reserves are required right from the Fed!
and he urged drastic reductions in the cost of college, to give more Americans opportunity to overcome the skills-based gap ??
Well, I agree with helping to lower college cost but I disagree that college gives many an economic boost…I say, a major effort be placed in the development of trade skills..Teach them how to build stuff…Fix Stuff…
““growing skills-based gap” in the new Information Age.”
The problem isn’t skills. It’s IQ/intelligence. Only a certain percentage of the population has the intellectual capacity to compete effectively in the “new market” workforce. If you figure that normal IQ is 100 and it takes a 110 to get a “good professional job” today, that means that only ~15% of the population is employable in the professional workforce.
It is, as if we decided the only jobs in this country should be for people who happen to have a great inside game (basketball). And then, suddenly, we look around and wonder why all the short, slow white guys are unemployed. That’s what we’re doing with our “knowledge” (again, more aptly stated as intelligence society) economy; we’re valuing one skill above all others and, of course, the vast majority of people don’t have that natural born gift.
The thing is, on the other side of it, there’s still a TON of work that needs to be done by the “former blue collar” professions. Carpenters, mechanics and even levels down from that, gardeners, pool care, pet sitting, etc. For some reason, it’s impossible to find people to do these jobs who will return a phone call and/or actually show up regularly. So, obviously there’s a shortage in these professions as well.
How is this possible? IMHO, if you’re a “marginal” employee; you can make 10 bucks an hour pet sitting or about the same sitting home on government programs, more and more people are choosing to sit home. They know there’s no 100K job at the end of their apprenticeship (for mid-level skilled positions) and, frankly, if they can’t make enough to really join the middle class, they just drop out entirely.
I don’t really know, this is all a string of guesses pulled together. What I do know is that the “knowledge economy” is desperate for people and has plenty of 100K+ jobs to hand out (and, yes, they will consume you’re entire life, we’ve gone through this before and I know that the jobs my company has aren’t for most on this board; so, please, let’s not re-hash that battle). I got a call from NetApp the other day looking for 2 new engineers; I didn’t ask, but I know from others who I speak to at that company; those are 200K+ jobs. Can’t find anyone in the region (SE US) who has the qualifications and is willing to take another job that’s 60%+ travel.
Why aren’t they advertising nationwide? $200K is a serious move-up job, the type that people relocate cross-country for. Or, if they find people don’t want to travel 60% or be consumed by a job, why not split it into two $100K jobs at 30% travel each? Less money but more time with the family.
The other option would be to make it $300k job. They might find someone at that number. If they don’t, they should keep raising the amount offered by 20,000 a month until they do.
What Mike said. Remember, Overtaxed has also admitted this is essensially a “dead end” job - you have to have a lot of technical expertise to get it, but your technical skills won’t be used so you won’t be able to go back to being technical once you do it for any length of time. Not too many young techies want that. And not too many old techies want to travel that much. You have to pay people more to take a job they probably don’t want to do.
” Or, if they find people don’t want to travel 60% or be consumed by a job, why not split it into two $100K jobs at 30% travel each? Less money but more time with the family.”
It doesn’t work like that. You can’t just substitute 2 people every other week at a client site.
Realize that about a dozen countries today are capable of producing all of the goods and services required by the world’s population. The rest lack the investment in infrastructure and/or skilled workers. So what is to become of those left out, subsistence farming?
you can make 10 bucks an hour pet sitting or about the same sitting home on government programs,
What programs are these?
What programs are these?
Agreed, unless you have kids, the “cheese” is very meager. There’s a reason why so many people sleep either in homeless shelters or in their jalopies in WalMart parking lots.
Just go to any public library’s computer lab and you will see legions of modern day gypsies who blow into town, check Craig’s list for local jobs and who move on when they can’t find anything. If all it took was “dropping out” and the government manna would rain down from heaven, those people wouldn’t be hustling for work.
Even in our relatively prosperous county there is long waiting list for Section 8 housing, years long. And if you don’t have kids you can forget about ever getting it.
Obama Causes Welfare Chaos In Detroit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfGLB8LO1aM
“Agreed, unless you have kids, the “cheese” is very meager. There’s a reason why so many people sleep either in homeless shelters or in their jalopies in WalMart parking lots.”
That’s because a lot of people are too ashamed to go on govt cheese. A single able bodies person can at the very least get food stamps, Section 8, Medicaid, cash welfare payments. No kids needed to get on the dole.
Pop out a few kids and the gravy gets that much thicker.
The average family on welfare earns the equivalent of $61,000 a year. You’d have to be a moron to work for $40K a year when you can sit at home, watch Maury and Oprah and earn $60K a year.
“”According to the Census’s American Community Survey, the number of households with incomes below the poverty line in 2011 was 16,807,795,” the Senate Budget Committee notes. “If you divide total federal and state spending by the number of households with incomes below the poverty line, the average spending per household in poverty was $61,194 in 2011.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/over-60000-welfare-spentper-household-poverty_657889.html
How are the gypsies getting internet access? In any library I’ve been in, you need to have a library card — ie proof of address — to use the internet.
I think you can fill out the card request and be up and running in a few minutes? But I admit it’s been quite a while since I got a library card…
All they have to do is show a locally addressed envelope with a cancelled stamp. They usually crash with a friend, so all the have to do is mail a letter to themselves.
Our local library has more “defunct” library cards than active ones.
I had my computer stolen years ago, and the library gave me a card the same day. There were no hoops to jump through.
That’s because a lot of people are too ashamed to go on govt cheese. A single able bodies person can at the very least get food stamps, Section 8, Medicaid, cash welfare payments. No kids needed to get on the dole.
Not true. Here in the Centennial State, adults do not qualify for medicaid and that is true in most states. Good luck getting Section 8. In some parts of SoCal the waiting list is 5+ years long and families get priority.
I’m sure you believe they hand out free Escalades too.
“Here in the Centennial State, adults do not qualify for medicaid and that is true in most states”
Try again….
“Those who are eligible for Supplemental Security Income (SSI). If you receive SSI, then you will automatically receive Medicaid.”
http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/HCPF/HCPF/1205745756534
Why would you like about something that is so easy to refute?
http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/HCPF/HCPF/1205745756534
“If you receive SSI, then you will automatically receive Medicaid. If you receive SSI and have not been enrolled in Medicaid, please contact your local county department of human/social services.”
Getting SSI (disability) isn’t for anyone who doesn’t have a job. And it takes years.
Carpenters, mechanics and even levels down from that, gardeners, pool care, pet sitting, etc. For some reason, it’s impossible to find people to do these jobs who will return a phone call and/or actually show up regularly. So, obviously there’s a shortage in these professions as well.
So why doesn’t pay go up enough to solve that problem?
I’ve never had trouble finding people to do this sort of work.
Me neither but I agree that it can be a challenge to find people who do what they say they are going to do. If the pay was good I would expect that to not be so difficult, which I think was the original point.
I’d pay 100/hr for a good carpenter. I already pay that for my mechanic, and, honestly, he’s a bit difficult to get to do certain jobs. He’s good though, so I continue to jump through the hoops.
Electrician/plumber? Forget about it. I can’t find anyone to return my calls, let alone negotiate a rate. I’ve just learned to do it myself.
Can’t find anyone in the region (SE US) who has the qualifications
Yes, we’ve gone through this before…and my last group was acquired by Netapp…there are very few 200k jobs there. Probably quite a few 100k jobs, though.
Indeed. 200K? Principal Engineers don’t make that kind of dough.
And if they don’t “have the qualifications” here’s a novel idea: Hire someone smart, with good problem solving skills and similar “qualifications” and TRAIN THEM! If they’re smart they’ll come up to speed in a few months. Better than waiting a whole year or more searching for a non-existent candidate.
200K is a VP level much of that maybe stock options, performance bounus, etc.
100K is typical tech worker pay 50 hours plus per week
“200K? Principal Engineers don’t make that kind of dough.”
You’re right. They earn more. ALOT more.
National average salary for a principal engineer is ~$110,000.
You’re right. They earn more. ALOT more.
Not according to glassdoor
It’s hilarious how on HBB everyone is starving in the streets. Yet alongside the poverty and misery experienced by the population, $100K a year jobs are meh.
Can’t have it both ways boys and girls…..
“200K? Principal Engineers don’t make that kind of dough.”
You’re right. They earn more. ALOT more.
LOL. Maybe a principal at a tiny firm. At any major firm; the senior guys are all 200K+. Mid level will be 125-175, and, right out of college with a few certs; 75K or so.
And yes, I do chuckle. There’s no 100K jobs; show the 100K jobs and then “well, that’s unreasonable”. Sorry, I just got off a 12 hour flight and heading to the client for a few more hours.
National average salary for a principal engineer is ~$110,000.
That sounds about right. It will be a little higher in places like the Bay Area.
The only engineer I ever met who made that kind of dough as an employee had the title “Distinguished Fellow”. IIRC, there were only a few dozen of them at HP.
It’s hilarious how on HBB everyone is starving in the streets. Yet alongside the poverty and misery experienced by the population, $100K a year jobs are meh.
Who said that?
“The only engineer I ever met who made that kind of dough as an employee had the title “Distinguished Fellow”. IIRC, there were only a few dozen of them at HP.”
Well, you’ve now “met” another one. And I could introduce you to a bunch more.
Any “SE” role at a major vendor (Cisco, NetApp, VMware, etc) is paying 150K+. And when you get to the architect roles, they are getting closer to 200K.
Try double $200k then some.
You guys are working for schlepps.
There are C# programmers in Manhattan earning over $500k. Well I heard that in 2002. So eleven years later maybe it’s up a tad. They do the top software brokers use.
They do the top software brokers use.
It had never occurred to me that we might be to the point where a person could make real money writing boutique optimized software for the 0.01% instead of the masses, but it makes sense for that application.
The problem isn’t skills. It’s IQ/intelligence.
And the bar keeps rising. At some point only geniuses will be able to achieve a middle class standard of living.
I think right now it take a 120+ IQ and good people/organizational/motivational skills. Or 150+ if you don’t have those things. But yeah, we’re moving toward needing 150+ AND those things.
So the New New Deal is for Lucky Ducky to go hungry, then?
Our Turn
A nation at crucial crossroad
6 hours ago
An enduring irony of American life is that so many citizens go hungry in a land of plenty, families trying to survive while surrounded by opulence, as a government that is constitutionally mandated to protect their health and welfare spends trillions promoting democracy in faraway lands.
Yet, that is where we find ourselves in the early part of the 21st century, and if the U.S. Congress continues in the direction its members have been heading, it’s only going to get worse.
The Senate last week passed a farm bill that includes nearly a trillion dollars of spending over the next decade — but also a $400-billion-a-year reduction in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, more commonly know as food stamps. The legislation has moved to the House, where fiscal conservatives are likely to further eviscerate the food stamp program.
Many members of Congress seem to be in a belt-tightening mood, which may look good in 15-second TV sound bites, but is potentially devastating to a large percentage of Americans who face daily food shortages, and who depend on food stamps.
Another irony — the farm bill continues big subsidies to the sugar industry, whose product, from a nutritional standpoint, is basically worthless, or worse.
A handful of state lawmakers in Sacramento participated last week in a protest of the federal farm legislation, limiting what they spend on food to what is allowed a food stamp recipient — $4.50 a day. Think you could do it on $1.50 for dinner?
Many people do. Nearly 48 million Americans received food stamps last year, and nearly half of those were children. In recent years, the total has been growing by more than a million new recipients a year. One in five food stamp recipients is a person 65 or older.
That’s just part of the story. Only three-quarters of those who could be getting help feeding themselves and their families actually do so.
More irony — only about a third of those eligible for food stamps in Santa Barbara County receive them. Perhaps the reason for that is the outstanding work done by the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County, which last year provided more than 100,000 county residents with 11 million pounds of food.
Still, even in the face of such data, the farm bill that eventually makes its way through Congress is likely to strike a severe blow to the food stamp program, while maintaining subsidies to industries that really don’t need the financial help.
…
Know your meme.
Of the 48 million food stamp recipients, 40 million are black (never mind there are only 30 million black Americans), all of which get $2,000 a month of food stamps to buy steak and lobster that they carry home in their Escalade with $5,000 rims, paid for by the Real American (racist dog whistle for white) taxpayers.
Only 250,000 people nationwide were on food stamps when George W. Bush left office. All of the increase in food stamps is because of Obama.
Obama is black (never mind his mother is white). Obama hates white people. That’s why Obama wants to take from the producer Real Americans (white people) and give free food stamps to the blacks who gave him over 50,000,000 votes in each of the last two elections.
All the money is green.
ED ZACHARY!
Only one color matters, and that’s the long green!
you are an idiot..
Goons posts are sarcasm and intended to show the truly vile lack of conscience, compassion and outright lies by today’s hard core conservatives.
He’s sarcastic.
Know your meme.
And know your meme’s meme!
Yo’ Meme
“you are an idiot..”
kmo, you must be new here. Otherwise you’d know that goonie is our resident political humorist, of sorts. You just fell into one of his meme traps. Don’t feel bad, I have, too, on occasion.
Goon’s ability to state things with a straight keyboard is unparalleled.
Goons posts are sarcasm and intended to show the truly vile lack of conscience, compassion and outright lies by today’s hard core conservatives.
Many of which wear The Cross on their sleeves and bloviate about “family values”.
He’s a poet when it comes to conveying the ensnaring ability of koolade.
The legislation has moved to the House, where fiscal conservatives are likely to further eviscerate the food stamp program.
Food stamps are the one program that the childless can count on not being put on a waiting list to receive. Looks like that’s going to change.
“The legislation has moved to the House, where fiscal conservatives are likely to further eviscerate the food stamp program.”
Good.
Hey Buddy-
How about you kick them to the curb, and I’ll hold their heads down while you kick them in the back of the head and knock all of their teeth out?
That should re-affirm your Mr. Internet Tough Guy status, if anything…
Still, even in the face of such data, the farm bill that eventually makes its way through Congress is likely to strike a severe blow to the food stamp program, while maintaining subsidies to industries that really don’t need the financial help.
Farmers can afford better lobbyists than the poor.
This is absolutely repulsive crap. More evidence that CONgress is corrupt and completely rogue. Both sides. Gutting food stamps while subsidizing unhealthy industries? Sickening how far we’ve fallen. Greed is evil.
Nuh uh! Greed is good! Don’t you remember the 1980s?
But don’t forget … we are a God Fearing, Christian nation.
If it was a crime for a nation to be Christian, no tribunal would be able to convict the USA, due to an overwhelming lack of evidence.
Let the rest eat cake!
Let the rest eat cake!
But only if it’s sweetened with HFCS. Healthy food and diets don’t create “People of Walmart”.
Wouldn’t the financial metaphor of a “G-Zero world” describe the situation where a tsunami tide of liquidity has freed all asset prices from economic gravity?
I think the Marketwatch peops missed it.
Try not to let falling BRICs land on your asset portfolio.
June 18, 2013, 9:00 a.m. EDT
Big investors flee emerging markets on China fears
By Barbara Kollmeyer
MADRID (MarketWatch) — Fund managers have been growing increasingly concerned about emerging markets, pulling investments out of that region and putting more cash to work in Europe and U.S. equities. The latest Bank of America Merrill Lynch fund manager survey for June showed investment in global emerging markets fell to the lowest since 2008. Some 25% of managers plan to underweight emerging markets in the next 12 months, and 31% believe China’s economy will weaken in the next year. Allocations to commodities have also reached a record low with a net 32% of asset allocators holding underweight positions, the survey showed. The survey also showed more signs of the so-called great rotation from bonds to equities. Investors extended their underweight on bonds to 50% from 38% in May. And after China, the second-biggest tail risk for markets is the failure of Japan’s three-pronged stimulus plan, the survey also showed.
More like submerging markets. The “underwater” meme.
‘The Rare Earths MMI® fell off a cliff this month, dropping a whopping 25.6% from 39 to 29. As MetalMiner editor Stuart Burns notes, the dramatic drop in RE prices has more to do with the bubble that preceded the drop than anything else. In addition, the new rare earth supply coming on-stream from Molycorp and Lynas means China doesn’t control the entire market any longer. With that, China also has ceded the ability to monopolize rare earth metal pricing.’
Hoss would be crying a river.
ASIA MARKETS
Updated June 18, 2013, 6:17 a.m. ET
China Wrestles With Banks’ Pleas for Cash
By LINGLING WEI
BEIJING—China’s big banks are pressuring the central bank to free up funds to ease an unusual cash squeeze in the world’s No. 2 economy, according to people familiar with the matter, illustrating a stark choice facing Beijing as it grapples with weaknesses in its financial system: add money to its system to help its lenders, or stay the course to rein in a rapid expansion of credit.
The Chinese interbank funding market has seen rates soar since early this month amid slowing foreign-capital inflows and banks’ needs to fulfill investor obligations, among other factors. The squeeze is pushing up banks’ funding costs and could impede a key source of funds for growth even as the economy slows.
In a further sign of tighter conditions, Agricultural Development Bank of China, a state-controlled policy bank, on Monday reduced by a third the size of its planned 26 billion yuan ($4.2 billion) bond offering. The Ministry of Finance, in a rare failure Friday, was unable to sell all of the debt it offered at an auction.
The tight liquidity situation is leading to some calls from Chinese banks for the People’s Bank of China to inject more cash into the market by lowering the share of deposits banks are required to set aside against financial trouble. The measure is known as the reserve-requirement ratio, or RRR. “Internally, we’re hoping for an RRR cut by the end of Wednesday,” said a senior executive at one of China’s top four state-owned banks.
The central bank didn’t respond to a request for comment.
…
How do you say Quantitative Easing in Mandarin?
Zhou Xiaochuan
“8000+ sq footer built in Truro, MA in 2008. Never had an occupancy permit. Boca Raton resident has only spent several weeks in the property.”
By Mary Ann Bragg
mbragg@capecodonline.com
June 18, 2013
TRURO — A Massachusetts Land Court judge could rule by the end of next week on whether Andrea Kline can stay in her house on Stephens Way for the summer.
At a hearing Friday, the town argued that the 8,333-square-foot house has no certificate of occupancy and therefore cannot be lived in. Kline, in paperwork filed before the hearing, contends that she needs to maintain the house and has also put a lot of time, effort and money into the property.
The concrete and glass house sits on 9 acres on Cape Cod Bay, made famous as part of the rural scenes in Truro captured by American painter Edward Hopper. Neighbors have said the size and scale of the Kline house is out of character for the pastoral area.
Donald Kline began construction of the house in 2008. That same year, a lawsuit was filed by four neighbors against Kline and also against the town for issuing the building permits. A Land Court ruling and a state Appeals Court ruling in the lawsuit led Truro Building Commissioner Thomas Wingard in January 2012 to revoke the building permits and a 2011 certificate of occupancy.
The property is currently in limbo because of appeals related to Wingard’s ruling.
Andrea Kline lives in Boca Raton, Fla., and has spent only a few weeks in the house, according to court records stated. Last summer, a court ruling allowed her to stay for a few days. At that time, she argued, too, that she had to deal with maintenance matters.
http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20130618%2FNEWS%2F306180321%2F-1%2FNEWS01
How can it be legal for the town to issue permits, allow the owner to spend all that money, and then revoke the permits later? This should send a clear message to everyone: Do not ever buy land or build a structure!
Last month while taking out the garbage I noticed an open house going on for a townhouse on the other side of my complex. So like most neighbors I decided to pop in. Everything was clean, nothing spectacular at all. Apparently the agent said the house wasn’t even on the market the market yet so people could “Get their offers in”, making it sound like he was a champion for the little guy. I asked when he thought the place would sell, in his words: “The day after we put it on the market it’ll sell. Real estate is too hot these days”. The price would be $344,500, and for a 3/2/1 TH in Maryland I thought that was extremely high for the area.
And how much did it sell for? It didn’t, they dropped the price to $329K and have another open house this weekend. Is it possible that people who would put in viable offers are being scared away from this ‘bidding war’?
For a reference, 10-15 years ago these THs in this complex were selling for 95-110K
For a reference, 10-15 years ago these THs in this complex were selling for 95-110K
This doesn’t make any sense. Considering houses depreciate, why would the sell for more 10-15 years later?
Isn’t this the Olney area? $344K is too high for a TH that’s too old, too few beds, and too far out.
Yes. I don’t want to post the MLS number because I dont want it to get many hits, but you are correct Oxide.
Sounds like here in Astoria they were marketing $99K 1 bedroom convertible 2’s for “$99K in ‘99″ great for teachers police average workers
convertible means a alcove, den, office area that could be made into a second Bedroom by adding a permanent solid door…most were sold open or had french or accordion doors…
“The day after we put it on the market it’ll sell. Real estate is too hot these days”.
Such hubris.
“And how much did it sell for? It didn’t, they dropped the price to $329K and have another open house this weekend.”
What a looser.
“Why buy a house at these massively inflated prices? Rent for half the monthly amount and buy later after prices crater for 65% less.”
Proceed with extreme caution.
All the flailing, ducking, weaving and excuse making for grossly inflated housing prices is laughable. “materials are expensive!”. That beaut got eviscerated and exposed as untruthful. “Labor costs are up!”….. even a 5th grader knows better on that one. “It’s the land!” is the latest hubris from the clueless even though lots located at distances commutable to NYC are available for $10,000.
The reality?
We’re profitable building SFR’s at $55-$60 per square foot.
Why would you pay MORE for a run down 20 year old depreciating house?
“All the flailing, ducking, weaving and excuse making for grossly inflated housing prices is laughable.”
Amen, amen, amen. Brings to mind an image of a snake twisting and turning to get out of a trap.
“If you have to borrow money for 15 or 30 years to pay for it, it’s not ‘affordable’ nor can you afford it.”
BINGO
Anyone who pledges that they can do a decade from now, or two or three, what they cannot do today is a fool or a liar.
Yet it didn’t used to be this way.
Most of the middle class could count on their job and pension being there for several decades and could therefore commit to long term debt for a house.
But in the last 35 years, job security went the way of the other 1000s of extinct animals killed during the same time period.
“Yet it didn’t used to be this way.”
Nor was a career length, millstone-around-your-neck debt service. 30 years in this case.
And there’s definite movement toward even longer mortgages.
Much like cars went from 3 years to 6 years.
“Much like cars went from 3 years to 6 years.”
The government now guarantees 8-yr auto/truck loans to buyers with FICO scores in the 500’s.
“If you sell your house today, you’re going to lose alot of money……
If you sell your house tomorrow, you’re going to lose alot more money….”
I guess you better get selling and do so in a hurry…. Now get a move on!
From George Ure this morning about EMP
Real Progress on EMP Protection!
From our resident war-gamer:
“George, The U.S. House is actually considering a useful and meaningful piece of legislation - the “Secure High-voltage Infrastructure for Electricity from Lethal Damage Act.” Never mind this should have been passed 11 or even 22 years ago.
Salient quote from the Examiner article: “Contemporary U.S. society is not structured, nor does it have the means, to provide for the needs of nearly 300 million Americans without electricity.”
Which means protection for 300 large grid connection transformers nationally, but the problem goes much deeper, so we will wait to see what else is covered. Still, damn good start and just 22-years late….or 51 years late if we count from the first public EMP damage in Honolulu from Starfish Prime.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starfish_Prime#Explosion
Better late than never, but better never late, huh?
Is there some way I can beat some sense into the stock market, so as to make it hurry up and crash already? I really hope Bernanke comes out at the end of this conference and says “Sorry everyone, I left a rotten turd in the punch bowl,” and then starts laughing through his nose and staggers off the stage in stitches.
Insurance companies not as stable as they’d want you to think…
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/06/11/insurers-inflating-books-new-york-regulator-says/?hp
“Insurers Inflating the Books, New York Regulator Says”
Is the point of this article to drum up bail-out support for life-insurance companies? The article says that taxpayers might have to bail out life-insurance companies because there is no FDIC-equivalent for life insurance. However, there IS an FDIC-equivalent for banks (the FDIC), but banks still got bailed.
Insurance companies not as stable as they’d want you to think…
Not a single company is if you bring back the honest accounting.
Exactly. Cooking the books has become legal over the last 30 years.
Life insurance is one of those things that is way oversold. Plus it’s misnamed. It really should be called death insurance. And, no, it is NOT an investment.
I think the central bankers are in an iraq and a hard place. I think at the gut level they know that they should not have pumped the stocks this much. Now they have done it and if they don’t continue, a massive loss is as predictable as Obama reading from a teleprompter in his next speech. What to do?
They need to unload the stocks on unsuspecting “Muppets”, so tyey can take the bath. Problem is, the Muppets have wised up.
Uncle Fed I feel the same way about the market. I think the players are waiting until the average person is back in the market - then CRASH!
Carl….
OT….. is Paul Stanley a queen?
If you’re saying what I think you’re saying I have no idea. I’ve never been a big Kiss fan, though.
Horrible musicians that made some good songs.
Horrible maybe but at least they took some time to learn how to play…..who does that today?
This is what happens to private car companies when the government owns a car company too. But it’s all for the children, right? It has nothing to do with the fact that Obama Motors (AKA GM) competes directly with Chrysler in the US marketplace.
That’s nice a car company you got there, I’d hate to see something happen to it like say a full IRS audit or something…..
“Chrysler Group LLC gave in to ****government pressure**** and said it would recall 2.7 million older Jeep models, after initially fighting a recall request from U.S. regulators. While Chrysler stood by its assertion that the vehicles are not defective, the automaker acknowledged consumer apprehension about vehicle safety.”
Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/industries/2013/06/18/chrysler-caves-company-recalling-27m-jeeps/#ixzz2WbDXpriC
Oh please, the Jeeps were catching on fire.
And GM is now 80% privately owned, and should be 100% by next year.
Cars catching on fire are the governments fault?
Can you even hear yourself?
“Cars catching on fire are the governments fault? Can you even hear yourself?”
Can you not read? The govt - which owns GM - forced Chrysler to recall millions of Jeeps. But of course there’s nothing wrong with that. Just like there’s nothing wrong with using the IRS to intimidate your political opponents. All par for the course.
And this isn’t the first time Obama has done this. He did it to Toyota as well a couple of years ago with the bogus fake acceleration issue.
It’s the Chicago Way.
Cars catching on fire are the governments fault?
It’s the fault of the government that they’re forced to do something about it. In a true free market, people would just burn up and get the heck out of our way.
C’mon government, be a sport, buy our mortgages.
Mortgage-Bond Auction Failures Reach Most in 2013 as Prices Drop
By Jody Shenn - Jun 18, 2013 12:41 PM ET
Bloomberg
U.S. home-loan bonds without government backing are failing to trade at investor auctions at the fastest pace this year as prices tumble after a rally.
The share of non-agency bonds reported by dealers as not trading after being included in widely marketed auctions rose to 44 percent in the first half of June, up from 18 percent last month, according to data from New York-based Empirasign Strategies LLC, which tracks the information. A total of $9.5 billion of the debt was offered, about the same pace as in the first four months this year, after $32.3 billion in all of May.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-18/mortgage-bond-auction-failures-reach-most-in-2013-as-prices-drop.html
“U.S. home-loan bonds without government backing are failing to trade at investor auctions at the fastest pace this year as prices tumble after a rally.”
Gee, I wonder why?
Why do we need home-loan bonds? Home-loans come from thin air. This 12 year old girl will tell you.
12 Year Old Girl Tells The SHEEPLE the Truth about …
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1IgiNnOZV4 - 252k -
WSJ is raining on the housing recovery parade. Story:
Will Home Prices Be Constrained by Stagnant Incomes?
The graph is the same bubble-icious graph that I saw a University of Arizona economist draw back in March 2002. The gap between house prices shooting to the sky and incomes poking along was what he called a bubble.
Make it a 40 or 50 yr mortgage. Problem solved.
Good. Last time we ran into this problem (2004/2005), they just simply put a different income number on the application (liar loan), or artificially lowered the rate for the first few years to get the loan approved (Option ARM).
The new trickle-down economics:
http://gothamist.com/2011/10/12/chart_bankers_are_five_times_richer.php
http://www.aei-ideas.org/2013/06/why-did-we-get-140-characters-rather-than-flying-cars-maybe-it-was-40-trillion-in-regulations/
What do we want? More Govt!! When do we want it? Now!!
VIVA OBAMA!! SI SE PUEDE
“A 2013 study from economists John Dawson of Appalachian State University and John Seater of North Carolina State University, Federal Regulation and Aggregate Economic Growth, estimates that the past 50 years of federal regulations have reduced real GDP by roughly two percentage points a year, or nearly $40 trillion. Instead of the US economy growing by just over 3% a year since World War Two, it would have grown by over 5% a year. “That is, GDP at the end of 2011 would have been $53.9 trillion instead of $15.1 trillion if regulation had remained at its 1949 level,” the authors conclude. (And by the way, the study does not attempt to quantify the costs of the Affordable Care Act or Dodd-Frank financial regulation.)”
It will be interesting to see what the FoxNewsians have to say about this 2 minute tidbit from sixties radical Bill Ayres.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2013/06/18/bill_ayers_obama_should_be_put_on_trial_for_war_crimes.html
They’ll say something like, “look, even Obama’s cantankerous intellectual bomb-throwing friends think he’s nuts!”