Bits Bucket for July 23, 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
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NOAA forecast: Light winds from the east. Waves <1ft.
Experience: Blowing like hell. Waves 3 ft.
The marina in Kingston is lightly populated this year. Three American vessels. Must be due to the flooding in NY they say. Lots of for sale boats. Hopefully it will be a quiet stroll up the Rideau. It’s mid-Construction Holiday so will be peak Quebecers, who bring aggressive driving a new meaning on the water.
The Quebecers are from Quebec, Canada ,generally nice folks ,at least to tourists, they are more french then france is ,many of them don’t or claim they don’t even speak English.
Canada has two major Parallel cultures that despise one another but still live peaceably side by side . odd, but it seems to work for them.
Yeah - it is a crazy.
You have one culture of english speaking white christian Canadians
And another culture of french speaking white christian Canadians (who all know english anyways).
How do they manage to live side-by-side without killing each other???
It is truly a miracle.
The irony is that the french culture is uber liberal.
They don’t marry. They don’t have kids. They love abortion.
Guess which culture won’t even be around in a few generations?
They love abortion ??
Your hate meter is spiking today 2-fruit…
What’s wrong with loving abortion? I thought having an abortion was the most amazing thing a woman could do. Is that no longer the case? It’s so confusing trying to keep up with liberals.
http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2012/03/14/choice-words-about-abortion-0/
“I love abortion. I don’t accept it. I don’t view it as a necessary evil. I embrace it. I donate to abortion funds. I write about how important it is to make sure that every woman has access to safe, legal abortion services. I have bumper stickers and buttons and t-shirts proclaiming my support for reproductive freedom. I love abortion.”
Smithers sometimes a woman’s gotta do what a woman’s gotta do
Notice too very very very very few men ever protest this decision…or even divorce their wives over this.
>I thought having an abortion was the most amazing thing a woman could do.
You lie. You think the most amazing things are your posts.
YouTube music video from Quebec meditating on this issue: http://youtu.be/cKCRHhmHvjg
We’ll always have Paris.
Oh please. They don’t despise one another. They’re like brothers who love each other but occasionally fight over something stupid. Quebecois make up about 25% of the population. Yet 3 of the past 6 prime ministers have been Quebecois. That would not be possible if the 75% non-French population despised the French.
And I mean 3 of the past 6 that served for any significant period of time, ie not Kim Campbell or John Turner who were in office for about 10 minutes and were never actually elected as PM.
Yeah ,you are right . I still fondly remember Pierre Trudeau . He was ultra liberal but revered by most and ruled for a generation . He married a girl half his age from the western prairies , and had sort of an open marriage . He was sort of Canada’s ”Bill Clinton”.
On the other hand , call someone a ”frenchie” in Canada ,you are in for a fight…go figure.
Liberals are all fine people, as long as you successfully hide your growing stack of gold and ammo from them.
“Lots of for sale boats.”
Massively high fuel prices on the water have a way of encouraging that.
You have no clue about the costs associated with sailing do you?
Yeah but people probably aren’t blowing out spinnakers on the intercoastal. Heh heh.
I’m not talking sailboats, Slithers.
‘You have no clue about the costs associated with sailing do you?’
If you buy a boat now, prepare to lose 50% of its value in the future. Wait for boat values to go back to 1997 prices.
Blue Skye
Give it time. Three footers can become six footers ! Even better, wait until the wind shifts from the west - - like it normally does there.
Light traffic on the Rideau this year apparently - but still the same number of locks !
You must still be using American gas. Canadian gas is ouch !
Your too hard on Quebec drivers. Some of them are okay.
Any dive boat activity ?
I guess your mate is okay now.
For the person talking about sailboats not needing gas. On the Rideau canal yes you would. If you could navigate it.
As for Quebecers and Ontarians getting along. Where else could we get such excellent poutine ? Also, you obviously have never witnessed a Toronto vs Montreal hockey game.
LOL, American gas is $4.50. Canadian gas is only $1.50, what a deal!
Don’t you buy gas by the litre in Canada?
“Get what you can get for your house now because it’s going to be far less later for years to come.”</b
I’ve been trying to tell people I know who have a house and want to sell it, they’d better sell now and get out from under. But I’m seeing the same behavior I saw on the last go-round. “My house is worth….” “I hafta get….” blah-blah.
I have observed that some people tend to get very emotional about their four walls, to the point of irrationality.
I have to tell you though, if supply stays low as it is, they may actually get their “hafta get” price.
In my suburban Chicagoland community of 450 homes +/- currently there is:
-One home under contract-listed and sold in 6 days
-One active home-on the market for 16 months at a “pie in the skye” price…..and
that is it! One active house on the market out of 450 houses! In 11 years I have lived there, I have never seen supply this low. Something has to give…….this is an incredibly inefficient market.
“… this is an incredibly inefficient market.”
Or an incredibly manipulated one.
I need to re-visit this point: If prices are held up not because of an increase in demand but because of a decrease in supply, who benifits the most?
1. Realtors? No, because realtors make their money via commissions. Restrict sales volume and you restrict commissions.
2. Banks? Yes, because as the price of houses that are offered for sale goes up so goes up the values of the houses that are not offered for sale. So if a bank - or any other lender - wants to increase the value of mortgages they hold then all they need to do is focus their attention on restricting the numbers of houses they dump into the market and higher prices will follow. And these higher prices will end up stimulating more demand. This phenom of higher prices stimulating demand isn’t logical but nevertheless there it is.
The realtors spend a lot of their time and energy focusing on sales but in this climate the ones who benifit the most from this time and energy end up being the lenders, not the realtors.
The wonderous part of this, if you are someone who despises the NAR, is the NAR folks are the ones who spend much of their own money and do most of the hustling and the lenders are the ones who reap most of the benfits.
you have to keep the banks solvent so they can keep buying treasuries and keep the cash rolling towards the deficit.
It’s a failed market in addition to an inefficient one although I’d be skeptical if it became efficient at current massively inflated asking prices.
Now that the banks have “recovered”, maybe it is time to nudge them into releasing more inventory by reinstating the mark to market rule for their assets.
Wouldn’t want to do anything that might destroy our amazingly strong economy.
The highly successful housing bubble reflation program has begun to leave would-be first-time buyers high and dry.
How will the housing market move to a permanently high plateau if first-time buyers are priced out forever?
U.S. NEWS
July 22, 2013, 7:30 p.m. ET
Housing Recovery Increasingly Prices Out First-Time Buyers
Financial Factors Keeping Lid on Initial Purchases
By CONOR DOUGHERTY and DAWN WOTAPKA
CONNECT
First-time home buyers, long a key underpinning of the housing market, are increasingly getting left behind in the real-estate recovery.
Such buyers, typically couples in their late 20s or early 30s, have accounted for about 30% of home sales over the past year. They represented 40% of sales, on average, over the past 30 years, and accounted for more than 50% in 2009, when recession-era tax credits fueled the first-time market, according to data from the National Association of Realtors.
The depressed level of first-time buyers could prove to be a drag on the housing rebound and the broader economic recovery over the longer haul. First-time home buyers are the foundation of the real-estate market and are major contributors to their local economies, often buying up older homes, revitalizing communities and spending money on furniture and renovations.
Once they have built some equity, they often move to more expensive residences.
“First-time buyers are important to get the housing market to move to a new plateau,” said Steven Ricchiuto, chief economist with Mizuho Securities USA Inc. “Without them, you just get stuck at a marginal recovery environment.”
…
July 12, 2013, 7:44 a.m. EDT
The looming threat to the housing recovery
Have the financial markets been taking too many painkillers?
By Brett Arends
A while back, a very good friend of mine had an operation on his arm. In the aftermath, the doctors gave him some Vicodin to deal with the pain. When I next saw him, his arm was in a sling. I asked him how he was doing.
He was in a terrific mood. “I’m as high as a kite,” he said and started laughing. I’ve never seen him so happy.
I don’t mean to be Mr. Gloom, but I sometimes wonder if investors are in a similar state of unreality. For the past few years, a massive dose of free money, thanks to zero-percent interest rates and “quantitative easing,” has sparked a similar sense of euphoria in many financial markets. One shouldn’t overdo analogies, but free money and Vicodin have one thing in common.
They wear off.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke lifted markets with remarks hinting that the era of free money may go on longer than some had feared. Last month, he sent markets into a tailspin just by looking forward to the day when the era of free money would come to an end — when the Fed would start “tapering” off its purchases of government bonds and, indeed, when short-term interest rates would rise.
Yet commentators on TV are making sarcastic remarks about last month’s “taper tantrum.” But it is all a matter of degrees. Sooner or later, this is going to end. The Vicodin will wear off.
…
A house is a good hedge against inflation.
Interesting…..
How is it that a depreciating asset is a hedge?
People who believe this don’t know money. They only borrow it. The interest, taxes, depreciation and insurance bleed them. They just can’t do the math. Believing we are going into a credit expansion/great inflation will slaughter them.
We are in the middle of a credit expansion/great inflation, except against the backdrop of GD2, which roughly neutralizes the artificially engineered inflation.
The tricky thing will be unwinding the monetary stimulus without triggering a major asset price crash, as stimulus forever is already priced in.
Exhibit A: This spring’s bond market rout on the mere hint that QE3 may someday end. There are more routs to come, folks.
A is a couple cases of JD…
The ONLY good hedge against inflation is to be the company doing the inflating.
GDXJ too, is a good hedge against inflation. Up 20% in two weeks.
It’s a bad hedge against the sudden realization that the inflation is Fed-engineered and ephemeral, as we saw earlier this spring.
It was the Fed’s reaffirmed commitment to QE3 which has briefly resurrected gold prices. Once Mr Market is convinced beyond a doubt that QE3 is ending, watch out below.
All inflation is made by fiat money. Gold survived every paper currency. It will continue to survive. 5,000 year history.
Wow, this is good to hear. There’s a bipartisan movement afoot in the House to cut funding to the NSA spying programs. Forget Zimmerman and Detroit, THIS is the real issue of our times.
http://wwmt.com/shared/news/features/top-stories/stories/wwmt_amash-leading-charge-cut-funding-nsa-spying-programs-12051.shtml
Good.
I also see that the IRS scandal continues to move up the chain of command, to the chief counsel. Yet, this is a “non-story” (of course).
What are the lead stories the media is reporting on these days?
Former CIA/NSA head Michael Hayden: “Snowden is worse than every American traitor in history”
Bad grammar above.
Traitor to whom. Who is the enemy?
Since the programs are top-secret, we will never know whether or not this bipartisan movement to defund them had its intended effect.
Sure you will. There will be stories about Facebook and Google hiring a bunch of laid off NSA analysts.
Aggregate budget numbers are now released:
(Small PDF) http://www.fas.org/irp/news/2013/06/nip-2014.pdf
And quite a bit can be deduced:
http://www.fas.org/irp/budget/index.html
Good find.
“No bubble yet”
Anecdotal information from last night’s beach party:
- This spring North County San Diego prices surpassed their 2006-2007 bubble peaks.
- In one case a home which was marketed using ‘range pricing’ drew a multiple-offer bidding war which resulted in a sale price $80K OVER THE TOP END OF THE RANGE.
- Last month the music perceptibly slowed down, as sellers who tried to follow the market up suddenly received no offers.
Sac News;
http://cl.exct.net/?ju=fe551c707c6605747d11&ls=fe1b1d777d6c017e741275&m=fefc1172766306&l=fed1157376640678&s=fe35157277640d7d711074&jb=ffcf14&t=
‘Michael said he has a hard time envisioning prices continuing to rise by 20 or 30 percent in the next year. If they do, he said, it might be time to start talking about a housing bubble. At the same time, he said: “It’s hard to see a market appreciating this rapidly stopping on a dime and saying, ‘We got prices right.’
I recall in the spring of 2005 or so, the NAR announced prices we up 15% nationally, and David Lereah came out and said, ‘15% is too much, even for me.’ Then by lunch, he had come to his senses and had a new reason it would go higher.
The new push is being built upon speculation and ultra low interest rates…Someday, both those impetuses will change…
“David Lereah came out and said, ‘15% is too much, even for me.’ Then by lunch, he had come to his senses and had a new reason it would go higher.”
And it did…for another year or so…before the onset of COLLAPSE.
“It’s not a bubble, but it might feel like one,” to buyers competing for homes, she said.
Clearly it’s the fundamentals.
Even though they openly discuss how monetary policy is used to set interest rates at all durations on the yield curve, the Fed nonetheless regards interest rates part of “fundamentals.”
Kind of makes you wonder just how many of those were fraudulent ’sales’ to straw buyers in order to boost comps for the remaining properties that the flippers also hold? You know that a number of them were- maybe all of them. The same old playbook is being dusted off and re-used for the 2nd half of the game.
“2nd half”
You’re exactly right.
The fraud is as big a part now at is was then… The deception by the media is far worse now, the effort by our gov to enslave tens of millions more is just as strong as it was then.
“2nd half”
Wow…the halftime show was really lame.
I can’t speak to all areas of the U.S., but in January 2005, bubble prices were clearly in evidence for all of SoCal.
For home prices, it’s back to 2005, according to FHFA data
July 23, 2013, 9:19 AM
U.S. home prices in May as measured by the Federal Housing Finance Agency rose 0.7% on a seasonally adjusted basis, or up 7.3% on a year-on-year basis, according to data released Tuesday.
That puts the index 11.2% below its April 2007 peak, or put another way, back to January 2005 levels.
…
Are foreign creditors on the hook for munibond debt backed by the collapsed tax bases in other hollowed-out, crime-ridden American cities besides Detroit?
In case anyone is curious where investment bankers reaching for yield eventually leads, keep on reading:
MARKETS
Updated July 22, 2013, 4:13 a.m. ET
Detroit’s Bust Stings European Banks
UBS and Others Are Hurt by Motor City Deals Dating Back to 2005
By DAVID ENRICH and JOHN LETZING
CONNECT
Detroit’s broken finances are intersecting with the troubled European banking industry, causing further distress for both the Motor City and its European lenders.
The situation demonstrates the ways in which European banks are still paying the price for flawed decisions made in the run-up to the global financial crisis. The trouble dates back to 2005, when Detroit was trying to find a way to replenish its depleted pension funds for municipal workers and its police and fire departments. The city turned to a giant Swiss bank, UBS AG, for help.
UBS, leading a group of banks from around the world, sold more than $1.4 billion of bonds, known as “certificates of participation,” for Detroit. Big chunks of that deal, and another the next year, went to European banks that, in the heady precrisis days, were venturing far from home to find assets that offered lucrative interest rates and appeared to be relatively low-risk.
But last week Detroit filed for bankruptcy protection, squeezed in part by the ill-fated bond deal and related transactions. The city’s creditors include not just UBS but also nationalized banks in Germany and Belgium. They hold debt that once was worth hundreds of millions of dollars but today is worth a fraction of that, likely adding to huge losses that the banks and taxpayers in those countries already have suffered.
The situation also is a reminder of how frothy boom-time financial markets helped spread risk around the world.
“I think you’re going to see more of these Detroit-type situations” involving banks that aggressively pushed into lucrative but ultimately risky deals, said William Mahnic, an associate professor of banking and finance at Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management.
In Munich, a government agency charged with unwinding a nationalized German bank’s assets is holding Detroit debt with a face value of about $200 million, according to a spokesman for the agency, FMS Wertmanagement. A nationalized Franco-Belgian lender, Dexia SA, is holding another large chunk, according to people familiar with the matter.
Thanks to the financial crisis and its fallout, UBS has already endured about $50 billion in losses and a Swiss government bailout, and is in the midst of dismantling a big part of its investment bank.
Now it faces even more losses. Following heated negotiations with Detroit’s emergency manager in recent months, UBS and another lender, Bank of America Corp.’s investment-banking unit, agreed to accept less than what they are owed under a hedging transaction that accompanied the bond deal and that had become a heavy weight around Detroit’s neck.
It looked different in 2005. UBS was attempting to transform itself into a global banking powerhouse and by 2005 was among the most prolific municipal-bond underwriters in the U.S.
Detroit was already facing fiscal problems due to a collapsed tax base, and its pension funds were low on cash.
UBS and its peers earned $46.4 million in fees on the deal, according to Detroit’s annual financial report. Over the anticipated 20-year life of the certificates of participation, Detroit was expected to be on the hook for total interest payments of $827 million, according to a 2005 bond prospectus.
To make sure that bill didn’t rise if interest rates spiked, UBS and other banks entered into a hedging arrangement with Detroit to cover a large chunk of the debt. Under the “swaps” deal, the banks would pay Detroit if interest rates rose. If rates fell, Detroit would owe the banks money.
Part of UBS’s pitch was that the bank’s strong connections with other European lenders would help ensure plenty of demand for the bonds, according to a person familiar with the transaction.
At the time, European banks were clamoring for new sources of income, a phenomenon that fueled burgeoning markets for everything from subprime mortgages to corporate-buyout debt.
…
Detroit was already facing fiscal problems due to a collapsed tax base, and its pension funds were low on cash.
Capitalism, (an invention of man to serve mankind) owes a debt to countries, people and workers - not just to shareholders. When that debt is not paid - we get Detroit….. and we get America today.
Detroit’s decline is a distinctively capitalist failure
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jul/23/detroit-decline-distinctively-capitalist-failure
The auto industry Big Three were loyal only to shareholders, not the people of Detroit. The city was gutted by that social choice
Capitalism as a system ought to be judged by its failures as well as its successes.
The automobile-driven economic growth of the 1950s and 1960s made Detroit a globally recognized symbol of successful capitalist renewal after the great depression and the war (1929-1945). High-wage auto industry jobs with real security and exemplary benefits were said to prove capitalism’s ability to generate and sustain a large “middle class”, one that could include African Americans, too. Auto-industry jobs became inspirations and models for what workers across America might seek and acquire – those middle-class components of a modern “American Dream”.
True, quality jobs in Detroit were forced from the automobile capitalists by long and hard union struggles, especially across the 1930s. Once defeated in those struggles, auto capitalists quickly arranged to rewrite the history so that good wages and working conditions became something they “gave” to their workers. In any case, Detroit became a vibrant, world-class city in the 1950s and 1960s; its distinctive culture and sound shaped the world’s music much as its cars shaped the world’s industries.
Over the past 40 years, capitalism turned that success into the abject failure culminating now in the largest municipal bankruptcy in US history.
The key decision-makers – major shareholders in General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, etc, and the boards of directors they selected – made many disastrous decisions. They failed in competition with European and Japanese automobile capitalists and so lost market share to them. They responded too slowly and inadequately to the need to develop new fuel-saving technologies. And, perhaps most tellingly, they responded to their own failures by deciding to move production out of Detroit so they could pay other workers lower wages.
The automobile companies’ competitive failures, and then their moves, had two key economic consequences. First, they effectively undermined the economic foundation of Detroit’s economy. Second, they thereby dealt a major blow to any chances for an enduring US middle class. The past 40 years have displayed those consequences and the capitalist system’s inability or unwillingness to stop, let alone reverse, them.
…….If the autoworkers had transformed the auto companies into worker co-operatives, Detroit would have evolved very differently. Worker co-operatives would not have moved production, thereby undermining their jobs, families and communities, including especially Detroit. Workers would not have destroyed themselves and their communities that way. Moving production, a distinctly capitalist strategy, was key to Detroit’s population dropping from 1.8m in 1950 to 700,000 today.
Workers co-operatives would also have searched and likely found alternatives to moving that might have saved Detroit. Workers co-operatives, for example, would likely have paid less in dividends to owners and salaries to managers than was typical at Ford, General Motors and Chrysler. Those savings, if passed on in lower automobile prices, would have enabled better completion with European and Japanese car makers than Detroit’s Big Three managed…..
High-wage auto industry jobs with real security and exemplary benefits were said to prove capitalism’s ability to generate and sustain a large “middle class”, one that could include African Americans, too.
——————————————————————–
The marina next door to the River House co-op on the Detroit river is basically all black people with large expensive boats. The co-op and marina form one big gated community. Its secure and well maintained, but once you leave its gates, your safety is questionable, especially at night.
While fishing I counted at least 3 different law enforcement agencies on the water; Detroit harbor police, DHS, and Canadian BP; so the water is pretty safe.
BTW, there is open carry in Michigan; the guy fishing next to me with the Sig holstered on his hip confirmed this.
Detroit must have been a great place to live at one time.
How about this spook, set a goal that Detroit will be one of the safest cities to live in by 2020…how would you achieve this???
And then let jackson sharpton waters be held accountable,and put in jail, if it fails.
how would you achieve this???
————————————————–
The first thing I would do is avoid making the problem worse by condemning a black child to be raised by a single black female/the government.
1. Black male children, raised by black women without husbands, end up thinking, speaking and acting like black women; emotional, irrational, impulsive, insecure… (see Trayvon Martin)
2. Black women without husbands, try to fashion their black male children into the “man” they never had; but all the repulsive behaviors that drove the black man out, must be accepted by the black male child, including guilt tripping.
3. Black FEMALE children raised by black women without husbands are often unable to accept direction and/or constructive criticism from ANY black males. No father means exploitation is all she expects from men because it is all she has experience in her life and her mothers when interacting with black men.
The result is a black woman who refuses to “play her position”; challenging and questioning her man on EVERYTHING. Then she gets mad when the black man leaves (often for an unattractive white woman LOL)
Bastard children = the beginning of the end of civilization.
Stop doing that.
Black male children, raised by black women without husbands, end up thinking, speaking and acting like black women; emotional, irrational, impulsive, insecure… (see Trayvon Martin)
I’ll assume that there are plenty of black women who this doesn’t apply to…
I’ll throw in my 2 cents.
This issue isn’t unique to black people.
Too many white female “single parent” types want to be friends with their kids, and not their parent. How many times have you heard a mother say “My kid is my best friend”?
I have yet to hear that from a father. Your job is to tell them what’s right, whether they want to hear it or not…….not be their buddy.
My SIL’s mom is a classic example, of a type that is all to common. Has boys living at home, age 14 and 21. The 21 year old doesn’t have a driver’s license, doesn’t have a job, doesn’t go to school of any kind, sleeps until 1-2pm, then watches TV, etc. until 3am.
The last time she was over at my daughter’s house was really instructive. Tells them to do something. They ignore her. Instead of getting pizzed and cracking skulls (figuratively), she starts this whiny “Oh, please do what I ask you to do” crap, and they continue to ignore her, or whine about why they should do it/somebody else made the mess/etc.
Trouble is…..she baby-sits my 3 year old granddaughter, and she observes all of this. And tries to pull the same crap with her mom, when she gets hope from work.
She has been learning that mommy rules are a lot different than granny rules.
And that is not unique to “single parents”. I see far too many parents in general trying to be best buds with their kids, allowing them to do whatever they want to do, whenever they want to do it. Giving them any and every thing they ask for. Want a new iPod/iPad/iPhone/X-box/etc.? No problem. Oh, what’s that? You broke it. No biggie, I’ll just buy you another one.
I think it’s the generation. I’m on average about 10-15 years older than most of the parents of kids my son’s age. And even though I am a single parent (gasp!) my son is not being handed everything in life and is not allowed to do whatever/whenever he wants. There is structure and discipline in our house. But I am somewhat unique (much to my son’s dismay some days).
The driver’s license thing is interesting. I’m seeing more and more kids not wanting to drive when they are able to. I don’t understand this. My friends and I couldn’t wait to drive. Heck, we were all driving (a la older friends’ cars) before we were legally allowed to. I was talking about this recently with a friend and our observation is that they don’t want to drive because they don’t NEED to drive. They are carted everywhere - anytime of the day or night. Distance be damned! It’s unreal.
“end up thinking, speaking and acting like black women; emotional, irrational, impulsive, insecure”
Oh stop being so racis…..white women are the same way (hahaha)….asbestos on!!!!
They’re online w/their friends. Unless they’re in to sports, there are only a few reasons that face to face is necessary (in their point of view).*
* my teens are the same
Spook:
You need to stop blaming black women for the short-comings of black men. What does it mean for a woman to “play her position”? I think black men have a backwards idea of a woman’s position. Women were not created to serve men.
play her position = assume the position
What does it mean for a woman to “play her position”?
—————————————————————–
It means the woman should advise and counsel her man regarding the best thing to say or do; but ultimately support his decision.
Its kinda like being a Gunny Sargent or other high ranking NCO. Smart women understand the power of this position. Dumb ones reject it, try to play captain, then when SHTF, play the weak woman card…
(((shakin my head)))
Women want authority without responsibility; when men start acting like women its “game over”.
>Women want authority without responsibility;
I see this in everyone these days, not just women.
I agree with ecofeco. Spook, you are being sexist.
“How about this spook, set a goal that Detroit will be one of the safest cities to live in by 2020…how would you achieve this???”
A big challenge would be to reduce the crime rate without channeling a large percentage of Detroit’s citizens into the revolving door of the criminal justice system.
I realize some U.S. citizens are racist against blacks (in fact, many of the people I grew up with), but I honestly believe a critical mass of people from diverse backgrounds would be willing to resettle Detroit as New Era urban pioneers, provided they could feel reasonably safe from becoming the next murder statistic. I heard on the radio this morning that a number of U.S. cities, including Baltimore and Detroit, have higher murder rates than Tijuana, which is saying a lot! Assure potential future Detroit residents that the criminals are contained, and give young families the means to start their lives in affordable, livable housing, and the raw building blocks for Detroit to reinvent itself will soon appear in the form of human capital.
So long as astronomical crime rates are tolerated, anyone who is sufficiently endowed in money or professional skills will pack up and move away, leaving behind those with no money or skills and the criminals who victimize anyone within striking distance.
300 years of US economic prosperity may have been just a blip. It was a freak coincidence to benefit from two industrial revolutions, but now they’re over.
http://nymag.com/news/features/economic-growth-2013-7/
Detroit’s decline is a distinctively capitalist failure
Let’s see.
Force employees to join a public union as a condition on employment
Force them to pay union dues, as a condition of employment, and take the money directly from their paycheck
Support democrats 99-1
Supper ubber liberal candidates that want bigger and bigger government and higher and higher taxes
Become the LARGEST political money donor
Become the LARGEST political “enforcer” - did I mention that unions cannot be held liable for inciting violence?
Run and elect you own pro-public union candidates
Have these politicians turn around and give the public unions golden plated contracts
Expect to raise taxes to infinity to pay for the contracts
And then blame capitalism when it ALL leads to bankruptcy
Gee, but what about the aircraft manufacturing business?
Lots of unions, but the US is globally dominant.
And Airbus is even more heavily unionized.
So is the German auto industry
There are a lot of reasons that Detroit and the US auto industry failed. But unions have been losing power in Detroit for 30 years, yet the business continued to go down the tubes. Someone with other than a reptilian brain might think that the UAW was only part of the problem.
The UAW was too often supporting policies that were self destructive. But then, I’ve never had my relatives shot/beaten by Harvey Bennett’s hired thugs.
Ok - let me repeat myself
PUBLIC unions
And violence by ALL unions is common. They have immunity.
——–
How Nasty Can Union Violence Get And Still Be Legal?
How nasty can union violence get and still be legal? A labor racketeering case against one of the biggest building trade unions in New York promises to clarify just how far union violence can go without becoming illegal — if not at the polling place, at least on the work site.
In Hamburg, New York, near Buffalo, leaders of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 17 stand accused of violent acts, threats of violence, and destruction of property. The defendants have denied the allegations, according to the Buffalo News.
According to court papers and to coverage by the Buffalo News, the charges against them include stabbing a knife into the neck of a construction company president, throwing hot coffee at non-union workers, pouring sand into gas tanks and transmissions of 17 construction vehicles, and threatening sexual assault against the wife of a company representative. The racketeering case was first filed in 2008.
According to court papers, the executive who was stabbed in the neck asked a union organizer what benefit he would get if he hired members of the union. “You guys slash my tires, stab me in the neck, try to beat me up,” he protested. “What are the positives?”
“The positives,” reportedly replied the organizer, “are that the negatives you are complaining about would go away.”
The Supreme Court determined in 1973 that union violence up to a point is permissible. Under certain circumstances, violent acts by union members cannot be prosecuted under federal law as extortion or racketeering.
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/nasty-union-violence-legal/story?id=14572790
For the record:
Detroit’s pension obligations account for about $3B of the $18B debt.
The auto industry Big Three were loyal only to shareholders, not the people of Detroit.
Worse than that, their “loyalty” to the shareholders was only for this quarter. They were in no way loyal to buy and hold types who actually wanted to invest in the future of the company long term.
Funny how San Francisco, Dallas, Houston, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Portland, Denver prosper in this evil capitalist system. Detroit was destroyed for 2 simple reasons
1. Unions
2. Liberal Democrat rule for 60 years
But let’s ignore all that and blame eeeeeeevil capitalists. HIGH-larious.
Detroit was destroyed for 2 simple reasons
1. Unions
2. Liberal Democrat rule for 60 years
Unions and liberal rule do not kill national interest industries when the national interest industries are nationally nurtured.
The European, and Asian automakers have strong unions and Liberal Democratic rule. But unlike the USA, they also protect their markets, workers and their national industries more than they protect their shareholder’s quarterly dividends.
How Germany Builds Twice as Many Cars as the U.S. While Paying Its Workers Twice as Much
http://www.forbes.com/sites/frederickallen/2011/12/21/germany-builds-twice-as-many-cars-as-the-u-s-while-paying-its-auto-workers-twice-as-much/
In 2010, Germany produced more than 5.5 million automobiles; the U.S produced 2.7 million. At the same time, the average auto worker in Germany made $67.14 per hour in salary in benefits; the average one in the U.S. made $33.77 per hour. Yet Germany’s big three car companies—BMW, Daimler (Mercedes-Benz), and Volkswagen—are very profitable.
How can that be? The question is explored in a new article from Remapping Debate, a public policy e-journal. Its author, Kevin C. Brown, writes that “the salient difference is that, in Germany, the automakers operate within an environment that precludes a race to the bottom; in the U.S., they operate within an environment that encourages such a race.”
Japan Unions Win Best Raises in Years
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324077704578357872734221046.html
TOKYO—Japan’s top industrial labor unions won their biggest annual compensation gains in years, the latest hopeful sign that the economy is starting to pull out of its long stagnation.
Toyota Motor Corp., 7203.TO -0.15% Japan’s largest manufacturer, said that it would grant its workers a bonus equal to nearly six months’ of base pay—a 15% increase over last year’s bonus, and the highest such offer in five years. Overall, 10 of Japan’s 12 major auto unions said employers had granted their full demands in negotiations, up from six last year, and zero in 2009.
New Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, his advisers and many private economists have said that a key to a more broad-based, sustained economic rebound would be an increase in worker pay.
Damn those pesky facts.
y u gotta be a terrorist whac?
everyone knows cheap money is where it’s at
We just need to give more tax money to rich people, and deregulate them more so they can move their operations to even poorer and more corrupt countries. racis.
More importantly
How much will obama ignore the law and contract (again) to reward his union buddies in bankruptcy over bondholders?
I guess it depends how much money these foreign creditors donated to various obama campaigns…
Pres. Obama is also a federal bankruptcy judge?
detroit is looking for a lot of demo crews and attorneys
a few jobs might come of this
We can laugh and joke over Detroit, but it’s a symbol.
A symbol of what happens when you put:
public unions + huge free sh*t army + long term democrat rule
together…
By the power of Greystone, he can transform!
You might as well face the fact that the rule of law has been totally gutting in this country. And obama is far from the first to subvert it. He’s had a number of predecessors.
If you want to look at who is responsible for this, look at Congress, past and present. They make the laws. Look at SCOTUS. They rule on the laws.
We have three branches of government. I’m no fan of Obama, by any means, and there’s plenty to blame him for, no doubt. But Congress is responsible for the laws in this country and if they’re not being enforced or if they’re wrong, it’s their collective azz.
“gutting”= gutted. More cawfeeeeeeeeee!
And the Members of Congress are elected by whom?
Dumb down a nation and this is what you end up with.
How many people who claim they are intelligent and smart but still vote for either party like the sheeple?
“How many people who claim they are intelligent and smart …”
Lol. This demonstrates the degree of success of the dumbing down process. They have been dumbed down past the recognition point.
The PTB have them right where they want them.
What party are you going to vote for? The Mickey Mouse party?
You will never have the power to do anything. Voting libertarian
is a waste of time, while the country continues to go down the
crap hole.
Tell me why Ron Paul ran as a Republican.
Tell me why Ron Paul ran as a Republican.
Because he overestimated the intelligence of republican voters?
No, because he knew he couldn’t effect any change working as
a libertarian alone. Wrong answer Mr./Ms. democrat.
No, because he knew he couldn’t effect any change working as
a libertarian alone
Neither did as a republican, so what’s your point?
‘You will never have the power to do anything.’
By this reasoning, if you don’t win, you ‘wasted your vote’. That would mean everybody who voted for the liberal from Massachusetts wasted their vote. Interesting that as a Mormon, he got fewer Mormon votes than McCain. Maybe these Mormons didn’t want to waste their vote?
How about we start a party called the “We’re Gonna Win” party? WGW will adopt any issue that attracts votes, no matter what the principle is behind it. Then we’ll win, and by your reasoning, will not have wasted our vote.
Or if you are serious, how about instead of telling us how not to vote, explain to us why we should vote for your guy, whoever that is?
The WGW party already exists. It’s called the status-quo. No matter who wins, 90% of the things remain the same, the fight for change is for only 10%.
Do really think that if Ron Paul had won as a Libertarian, that he would get any co-operation from the congress and senate? He probably reasoned that he would be(and was) more closely
alined with the Republican party, therefore more chance of success in his goals.
“Interesting that as a Mormon, he got fewer Mormon votes than McCain. Maybe these Mormons didn’t want to waste their vote?”
You have a source for this claim?
Another HBB poster once said here that votes for Ron Paul or Gary Johnson were “stolen” from Romney.
How about we start a party called the “We’re Gonna Win” party? WGW will adopt any issue that attracts votes, no matter what the principle is behind it. Then we’ll win, and by your reasoning, will not have wasted our vote.
That’s funny. The sad thing is that it might succeed.
So we’re supposed to vote against what we’re afraid of, instead of for what we want.
Sounds like electoral terrorism.
But Congress is responsible for the laws in this country and if they’re not being enforced or if they’re wrong, well, that is all the more reason to re-elect every Congresscritter who choses to run.
if they’re not being enforced or if they’re wrong, it’s their collective azz.
Actually, that’s wrong. It’s the executive’s job to enforce, not congress. If the laws are wrong, it’s Congress’ fault. If they’re not enforced, it’s the executive/President’s fault.
Sometimes, and I mean sometimes I wonder if I’d be better off in life if I had this “simplistic” and “linear” view of the world such as this gentleman.
If only Detroit were in France, perhaps they could sue the sophisticated investment bankers who loaned them the money for doing so in full knowledge the debt would never be repaid expecting to get made whole by too-big-to-fail bailouts.
How debt-laden French cities avoid Detroit’s fate: sue the banks
By Peter Gumbel
July 22, 2013
Within hours of Detroit filing the biggest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history on July 18, French TV and other media followed up with the reassuring message that, in France at least, such a turn of events would be impossible. Under French law, municipalities are required to balance their budgets, and the national government can — and occasionally does — intervene to force them to comply.
But take a closer a look at what’s been happening since the 2007 financial crisis, and a rather more nuanced, and surprising, picture emerges. For more than a dozen sizable towns and districts across France have been caught in a vicious debt trap that has seriously imperiled their financial well-being. In turn, they have mounted a furious counterattack that involves suing the banks that financed their credits. At the same time, they have launched an intense lobbying of national government for substantive help to shore up their finances.
On both counts they’re winning, in a way that would turn Detroit green with envy.
The national government has thrown a lifeline to the troubled communities, unveiling an arsenal of new measures — including about $4 billion in extra cash — to help assuage the crisis. And, to their delight, the local authorities have won landmark judgments against the banks that call into question the very validity of the loans they took out.
…
France have been caught in a vicious debt trap that has seriously imperiled their financial well-being. In turn, they have mounted a furious counterattack that involves suing the banks that financed their credits….On both counts they’re winning,
I’ve been saying it all along. Countries come before “capital”. People come before “capital”.
Hell…..countries and people invented capital - not the other way around. So why should countries and people be crushed by their own invention? Because banks have certain funny money numbers on their books? While at the same time this funny money has been created by central banks?
Most of this “debt” is jive. As I’ve said, I’ve seen and lived in a country who’s currency had collapsed 3 times in 20 years and they still enjoy life as much or more than many.
OK - let’s play this out.
Banks will stop lending to cities.
Since no cutting of the insane spending was involved by the cities - cities will expect billion dollar bailouts from the federal government until the great recovery begins (ummm - FOREVER).
And it all ends in a huge disaster, bankruptcy and scandal.
Because no one could see this coming.
And we kicked the can down the road a long, long time.
Banks will stop lending to cities.
Why would they do that? Banks make money by lending….and if the debt goes bad, banks know very well they will be bailed out again.
Banks will stop lending to cities.
And it all ends in a huge disaster, bankruptcy and scandal.
What are you talking about? Disaster? All you gripe about is local governments living within their means.
So why would what you wish for be a “disaster”? You wish for disaster?
Banks would never stop lending to cities that have suffered the “disaster” of learning to live within their means. Banks lend money. That’s what they do.
But more important than the “what” is the “why”. Cities are not going BK because they spent too much per se. Cities are going BK because they spent in relation to the expectation and promises that American capitalism would provide middle-class lifestyles and income to our people. This expected income would have provided the expected tax base.
Well, it’s obvious to anyone with half a brain that American’s brand of crony-capitalism has failed about 80% of Americans. This is not an academic exercise people. This is real.
Cities are not going BK because they spent too much per se. Cities are going BK because they spent in relation to the expectation and promises that American capitalism would provide middle-class lifestyles and income to our people. This expected income would have provided the expected tax base.
You have made a distinction without a significant difference. BK often results from the failure of expected income to match the predicted/predictable burden of debt service.
“Cities are going BK because they spent in relation to the expectation and promises that American capitalism would provide middle-class lifestyles and income to our people. This expected income would have provided the expected tax base.”
Adapt to economic reality or die.
P.S. Better capitalists would not have let the U.S. automobile industry collapse in the face of Japanese competition.
You have made a distinction without a significant difference. BK often results from the failure of expected income to match the predicted/predictable burden of debt service.
There is a huge “significant difference” in the why and what.
The what:
Cities spent in relation to their expectation of America’s promised middle-class lifestyle brought forth by America’s capitalism. In the past, when American capitalism was regulated to provide for most Americans, this promise was delivered.
The why:
The promised middle-class lifestyle’s delivery was halted, because America’s capitalism (that benefited most Americans) was hi-jacked by the globalists, the shareholders, the bankers and the uber-rich.
Adapt to economic reality or die.
Right, but it’s bigger than adapting on micro levels:
America, as a country, is not adapting to the economic reality that our current brand of capitalism is failing 80% of Americans.
This is why our middle-class lifestyle is dying.
Adapt or die? I’m seeing the dying, not the adapting.
current brand of capitalism = socialism for the rich and politically connected few
Rio: ” Cities are going BK because they spent in relation to the expectation and promises that American capitalism would provide middle-class lifestyles and income to our people.”
Lol.. you should go into stand up comedy. The unions were negotiating with the same people whose campaigns they were financing. Benefits negotiated weren’t based on a “sound financial projection”, they were based on the maximum the union could negotiate to extract. It’s been 40 years that the decline of Detroit due to American car market share loss has been happening. You’re trying to tell me that in 40 years no one saw this coming and it all looked like a promising middle class power base was funding the whole shebang!?! Again… look into stand up moonlighting, you’d probably make a killing.
You’re trying to tell me that in 40 years no one saw this coming and it all looked like a promising middle class power base was funding the whole shebang!?!
Either you are dumb, biased or using a strawman argument to refute the truth that bothers you.
I saw it coming. I saw the destruction of the middle-class coming for the past 30 years. But many did not see it coming because they were propagandized into believing our growth would benefit the middle class.
I saw no arguments being put forth by Republicans that Union wages and pensions were too high based on the fact that trickle-down and globalization would gut the middle-class and thus the tax base. Did you hear that? No. you did not but it is what has happened.
look into stand up moonlighting, you’d probably make a killing.
I thinks so too if I tried. I’ve had pretty good success at whatever I’ve put effort into.
It’s been clear since the 70’s that the auto manufacturing base in Detroit is declining. This problem didn’t suddenly occur over night, it’s been getting progressively worse. How can you *possibly* call that a strawman argument? You even agree with it!
To be clear, Detroit auto industry decline is NOT (mainly) the result of trickle down economics, globalization (outsourcing of labor as opposed to international competition), NOR auto worker union pay and/or pensions. It is a result of superior product from Japan eating the lunch of our manufacturers in quality and design for 30+ years. Hopefully you understand what I’m saying here as the other factors did contribute, but all things being equal, it’s the subpar cars that ruined Detroit economically.
However, seeing this increasingly tough economic reality, the leaders of the City of Detroit did not tighten the belt. I’m sure some kind of Keynesian economics describing how extra government spending during the downturn would save the local economy went into effect. This bankruptcy is the direct result of those failures to recognize and deal with the truth: when you have less income, you need to lower your expense, or you will go bankrupt.
It amazes me we still argue about this on the national level as well…
How can you *possibly* call that a strawman argument? You even agree with it!
OK, you’re talking more micro (Detroit) and I’m talking more macro (USA economy and the false promises of trickle-down growth)
The strawman imo was “no one could see it coming” in relation to my macro view of many seeing the decline of the middle class coming because of supply-side tripe. I saw it.
But I also saw that California was stupid spending when they thought the dot-com boom would last forever.
BTW, USA cars have been good for the past 20 years.
“The national government has thrown a lifeline to the troubled communities, unveiling an arsenal of new measures — including about $4 billion in extra cash — to help assuage the crisis. And, to their delight, the local authorities have won landmark judgments against the banks that call into question the very validity of the loans they took out.”
Cities like Detroit couldn’t sell their Municipal Bonds without the Credit Default Swaps to back them because everyone with money knows their miserable plight. Thus, the original bond holders are/have been made whole already. The CDS folks (think AIG) now own this bad debt. However, they don’t eat the entire face value because they resell this bad debt into the secondary market usually the Hedge Funds (think greedy billionaires) for $0.20 on the dollar. The hedge funds have the smartest lawyers who advise which Municipal Bonds (think state laws) are partially redeemable maybe $0.65 on the dollar. Then they take the issuing municipality to court for the “shake-down.” It is the court that decides that the retired sewer maintenance worker will get his own sewer cleaned, e.g., lose 50% of his pension, so that the Hedge Fund billionaires can get richer. Capitalism!
It is the court that decides that the retired sewer maintenance worker will get his own sewer cleaned, e.g., lose 50% of his pension, so that the Hedge Fund billionaires can get richer. Capitalism!
You ignored the fact that the retired sewer-worker’s union has known for a couple of decades that they were in trouble, but saw no alternative to continuing to push the city towards eventual BK… There are no innocent parties in such a situation.
Speaking of which -
http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/blog/money-makers/2013/07/city-of-houston-files-lawsuit-against.html?ana=e_du_pub&s=article_du&ed=2013-07-23&u=kmOD9NGoR4SOwPsYyKTc3HI+fis&t=1374611904
Wow!
“Several other U.S. municipalities have similarly filed suit against the big banks allegedly linked to LIBOR manipulation, including Baltimore, Los Angeles and San Francisco.”
Glad to see pressure applied to these financial criminals.
Does munibond debt normally get backstopped by bailouts in the event of civic bankruptcy?
Bank holdings of U.S. municipal bonds hit record high
Thu Jun 6, 2013 5:04pm EDT
* Households’ share of market shrinks over 5 years
* Mutual funds continue to sweep up bonds
* Money market funds hold lower amounts
By Lisa Lambert
WASHINGTON, June 6 (Reuters) - The banking sector is becoming a greater force in the U.S. municipal bond market, with Federal Reserve data on Thursday showing that banks’ holdings of municipal bonds reached a record $374.2 billion in the first quarter of 2013.
The sector now holds more than 10 percent of outstanding municipal bonds, nearly double its 5.9 percent market share in 2007, according to the Federal Reserve report.
In terms of institutional investors, banks hold the second largest amount of outstanding municipal bonds after mutual funds, in a market long dominated by individual investors. Households still hold the most outstanding bonds, but their market share has shrunk over the last five years, to 44.5 percent in the first quarter of 2013, from 49 percent in 2008.
Part of the reason for the banks’ ascendancy is the increasing attractiveness of highly rated tax-exempt municipal bonds when compared to U.S. Treasury bonds, said Judy Wesalo Temel, principal and director of credit research at Samson Capital Advisors in New York. In the first quarter of the year, top-rated 10-year municipal bonds yielded on average 94.9 percent of similar Treasuries, which are taxed, Municipal Market Data shows.
“Banks will buy the high-quality municipals instead of Treasuries and they’ll get the tax-exempt income,” said Temel. “The other part could be that there are so many direct bank loans to issuers.”
…
David Weidner’s Writing on the Wall
July 23, 2013, 10:23 a.m. EDT
Panic about Detroit
Commentary: Is your town going to be the next big bankruptcy?
By David Weidner, MarketWatch
Getty Images
Detroit’s Renaissance Center, owned by GM, looms over a rundown section of the city.
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Detroit’s bankruptcy filing is like a rock song by Michigan native son Ted Nugent. It’s so simple, it leaves a lot to interpretation.
“Well, Detroit city’s just the place to be,” Nugent sang in 1975. “This mad-dog town’s gonna set you free tonight.”
But sometimes the truth of the matter is as elementary as it seems. In other words, Detroit was a one-industry town that couldn’t adjust when that industry hit a crisis.
We know the facts. Unemployment has soared from 7.3% in 2000 to more than 17%, according to the Labor Department. The city owes roughly $20 billion to about 100,000 creditors, including public-sector pensioners. The demise of the auto industry has left the city barren: 78,000 unoccupied buildings, with a population having sunk to 700,000 from more than 2 million in the 1950s.
The backdrop for all of this, of course, is that Detroit was the Motor City. The automobile industry — anchored by Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co. and Chrysler — got lazy and fat and needed the tough love of a government-forced bankruptcy (and bailout) to restructure itself.
Seems pretty simple. But you know economic pundits. They can’t let Detroit’s filing under Chapter 9 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code go without jamming into their narrative.
What does bankruptcy mean for Detroit? How bad is the situation in terms of city services? How did Motor City get into this position?
Over at Forbes, John Tamny writes about how leaving the gold standard actually sunk Detroit. “A weak dollar followed by corporation-enervating bailouts laid the groundwork for the demise of the Big Three and Detroit in a major way,” Tamny writes.
Paul Krugman of the New York Times writes that bankruptcy is just one of those things that happens now and then “in an ever-changing economy” but doesn’t stretch it as far as does Tamny. He does, however, worry that Detroit will be interpreted as the American Greece, a tale of too many entitlements.
Larry Kudlow, writing for RealClearMarkets, obliges. “The downfall of Detroit is again proof positive that the public-union collective-bargaining model has utterly failed,” Kudlow writes. “Unions just loot the benefit lock box at taxpayer expense.”
…
Kudlow is a Fed hack and former Fed employee. He cannot be trusted to tell the truth any more than a mortgage pimp or realturd.
Right, but when it’s Bernanke saying that printing money is the solution, “wow they are some educated people and you should listen to them”
Wondering when obama and sharpton will give speeches and start riots…
Oh wait…
———————-
Black women shoots black man in gas station in self defense
Modern Topics | 7-22-2013
Houston police are investigating a deadly shooting that was caught on camera. A woman shot a man after he apparently attacked her in the parking lot of a gas station, police say.
I have a feeling that they will charge her for something.
I have a feeling that they will charge her for something.
First the gunwoman will have to be redefined as a “white” black person.
“I have a feeling that they will charge her for something.”
Just like the white Hispanic was.
And here is one that you barely see in the MSM, as they are still too busy trying to lynch the guy who was just found ‘not guilty’ by a jury.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57594906/george-zimmerman-helps-save-family-from-overturned-suv/
That accident was staged. And George Zimmerman just “happened to be there”, yeah right.
Trayvon Martin was innocently skipping through a meadow with his iced tea and Skittles, looking forward to his 12th birthday, when Aryan Nation member Zimmerman stalked him and shot him point blank without warning, just because he was black.
July 23, 2013, 8:31 a.m. EDT
Stagflation: The Fed’s worst nightmare
Commentary: Easy monetary policy is now showing up in prices
By Irwin Kellner, MarketWatch
PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. (MarketWatch) — While unemployment remains stubbornly high, inflation has suddenly begun to rise.
If you look at the price indexes on a year-over-year basis, most measures of inflation seem to be subdued. This is even more so when you examine the so-called “core” rate of inflation, which excludes food and energy.
But we all have to consume food and energy, and as far as most people are concerned, it’s what’s happening now that matters more than what took place this time last year.
That said, an examination of the latest readings of two widely watched indexes, the producer price index and the consumer price index, reveal a rather disturbing trend. Inflation is slowly but surely returning.
Wholesale prices in June surged for the second straight month, rising a whopping 0.8%, the fastest rate since last September. For their part, consumer prices jumped 0.5% in June, the most since February, and matching the monthly gains posted last August and September.
Looking back, this should be no surprise. The degree of monetary ease emanating from the Federal Reserve these past few years has been nothing short of astounding.
As the great economist and Nobel laureate Milton Friedman famously said: “Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon.” Simply put, what we’re seeing are the consequences of too much money chasing too few goods.
…
Hey, it’s the 70s all over again! Get out those Huk-A-Poo shirts, platform heels and disco balls, let’s partayyyy!
Double-knit trousers?
You forgot “leisure suits”. And Dirk should know!
And “Billy Beer”.Just ask Jimmay, the nail banger, inflation expert.
Don’t for the OP t-shirts!
Inflation?
How corrupt they make no mention of price fixing of all items.
There is no inflation. *Learn the difference*.
Because predatory price fixing is an American tradition, you crazy whacky commie!
Should be time for Bernanke to follow through, then.
For those who need a little comic relief, George Carlin on eating and consuming in America. Caution: profanity ahead.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJ7HwRETGdc
jc (jose)
Last night I watched the Carlin gig on food advertising. lmao. The one on euphemisms was another funny one. Carlin was one of a kind in a great way. btw, I went through a shopping center mgmt. program and still love his truthiness.
That’ll be my entertainment for this evening.
I worked for one of those home improvement vendor/big box store vendor partnership programs (I was employed by the vendor) and sometimes we worked on site at the store. Wasn’t a bad gig, actually, nice money for part time work now and then.
So I got to see some of those shoppers. Sheesh. One image that’s burned into my brain is that of obese shoppers tootling around in the jiffy carts, their buttocks overflowing the seats.
Sarasota Housing Prices Fall 9% In June
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20130722/ARTICLE/130729890/2055/NEWS?p=2&tc=pg
This is what happens when demand collapses. And why did demand collapse?
Demand collapsed because resale housing prices are massively inflated by 250%+.
Shweeeet! Sarasota gulf view SFH will be within my budget!
Central Bank Induced Housing Bubble Begins To Collapse in Netherlands
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100905782
Paging NHZ!!!
“June Home Sales Down 6.9 Percent Monthly in California”
http://nationalmortgageprofessional.com/news40713/june-home-sales-down-69-percent-monthly-california
Collapsing demand is what happens when prices are grossly inflated.
It’s OK, so long as prices are still improving.
Remember the suckers who bought housing from 2003-2007?
Remember the suckers who bought housing from 2010-2013?
They’re one and the same.
What about those who bought in 2008-2009, are they different?
Krusty The realtor….
Hows life my dishonest underwater pimp?
I’ll take that as a yes, they are different.
By the way, I previously thought you were in CA. Now that I realize you’re in NY/NJ/CT, and I’m in SC, from now on I’ll say hello from your future retirement state.
Sure thing Krusty the realturd.
Metro Detroit home prices surge by 45% — but the number of homes for sale in southeast Michigan dropped again in June, trimming sales for the month.
I suspect Detroit is permanently out of “business as usual” unless it gets hit by an asteroid with a solid gold crust and a creamy nougat center of sweet light crude. The known huge number of abandoned properties in Detroit apparently is not included in the above statistics.
Of course. All these “prices are up” reports excludes foreclosures and the massive, growing excess, empty and defaulted housing inventory in the tens of millions range.
The city of Detroit is pretty awful and has a ton of abandoned properties, but it’s just a small part of the whole Detroit Metro area the article discusses. I’ve known a couple people who recently moved to that area, nice places outside the city itself, and they confirm what this article says, low inventory, high prices, lots of competition to buy a house.
Of course there is Krusty.
Mich. To Get $100M To Demolish Vacant Houses
http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2013/06/06/mich-to-get-100m-to-demolish-vacant-houses/
20% of which will actually be used for demolition with the remainder going to buyout lawyers and consultants.
Do I know this for a fact? Nope. But after decades of seeing this in real life, that’s the way I would bet.
You know all those excess empty houses bought up by private equity firms?
They’ve got a vacancy rate of 50%+.
I think it’s more.
HA
I’m sure in regions of the country you’re right, but our neighborhood has Blackstone rentals, and all of them are now refurbished and rented out. At least the neighborhood will not suffer from lack of front yard maintenance.
Our experience in So Cal is that once the homes are refurbished and offered for rent, they are rented pretty quickly.
Considering the 4.4+ million excess, empty and defaulted houses in California, that’s a good thing.
How do you know?
Isn’t the plan to simply hold them vacant and wait for prices to increase, at which point they will sell them for a tidy profit?
Nope, for the big guys, the plan is to rent them out, and go public, creating a new kind of publicly traded REIT. For the smaller guys, the plan is to rent them out so you can get paid a bit while you wait for the right time to exit.
The longer you hold, the greater your losses.
Enjoy losers.
San Franscisco Bay Area Housing Demand Collapses YoY and MoM
http://dqnews.com/Articles/2013/News/California/Bay-Area/RRBay130718.aspx
Collapsing demand is what happens when prices are massively inflated.
Sacramento-area home prices jump almost 30% in a year, lead 30 biggest metro regions
After plummeting to abject lows in the housing crash, Sacramento-area home prices are now rising faster than almost anywhere else in the nation, Zillow said in a report released today.
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/07/23/5587395/sacramento-area-home-prices-jump.html#storylink=cpy
Sacramento Housing Demand Collapses 12%
http://picpaste.com/pics/b098d9df993a098eaf483ac15eea1a79.1374627254.png
This is what happens when prices are grossly inflated. Demand collapses.
“I can ask $20k for my 12 year old Honda Civic but nobody is dumb enough to pay it.”
At current inflated asking prices of resale housing, new housing costs are 40% less(material, labor, profit and apples to apples lot size). And rents are a fraction of new construction housing.
You know what to do.
You are LIAR! Real estate always only go up. See this house? See these women? See this car? See this boat? You jealous, you could have all this too, but you scared to try.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQNdi-fRExc
Yo Muggs, check out all the tail at 59-seconds!
Wait, what?
Am I a booty guy? Is it the Florida thing?
What a hoot. The perfect wasted at 1:00 AM ad. for your viewing pleasure.
Got to give the little runt some credit. He did manage make himself a legend.
Or infamous, as the case may be.
“You jealous, you could have all this too, but you scared to try.”
Heard on NPR this morning that median SFH prices in Assachusetts are up.
The Warren Group reported Monday that median prices jumped 9 percent last month when compared to June 2012 to $350,000…Realtors reported a 1.6 percent increase in sales of single-family homes last month, while The Warren Group reported a 1 percent jump.
Link here
My sister-in-law and her husband are first time home buyers looking to get a low-down-payment VA loan. They’ve been looking for the last year (since she got pregnant with their 2nd child) and have put in multiple offers on properties. No luck so far. In the $300k price point in southeastern MA there is too much competition for anything worth buying.
Why??????????????
Good question. And I don’t have an answer… Except to say I can’t leave this effed up state soon enough.
Good news is that I hear the unions are backing Elizabeth Warren and there is talk of a possible presidential run. Now you all get to experience the liberal bliss that is Assachusetts on a national level.
Good friend sold his house outside of Boston for $50k over purchase very recently. Guess they lived there 2 or 3 years. Company him and friends started sold to a Texas company and part of the deal was they had to relocate to San Jose or Austin. He chose Austin (having already lived in San Jose.)
Austin seems pretty neat.
http://www.bloomberg.com/video/shiller-not-confident-about-home-price-outlook-1f7DEM1iR1~mFql_6cQYlA.html
Shiller on Bloomberg.
Sorry kidz. No take backs. No returns. No refunds. You voted for this monstrosity, you’re stuck with it for another 3.5 years. May every Obama voter endure nothing but pain and misery for decades to come.
“WASHINGTON — Stung by Americans’ persistent worries about the economy and a capital gripped by controversy and gridlock, President Barack Obama is suffering his lowest job approval numbers in nearly two years, according to a new McClatchy-Marist poll. Overall, the poll found Obama’s job approval at 41 percent last week, a sharp drop from April’s 50 percent.”
Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/07/22/197361/poll-obamas-job-approval-plunges.html#.Ue3Q0D7DVoY#storylink=cpy
This is why the MSM is gearing up for his next dog and pony show. The
new proposals for the “economy”, to show that he “cares”. If he really cared he would approve Keystone pipe and get the “friggin oil prices”down.
Stung by Americans’ persistent worries about the economy
The American economy has been gutted like a fish because of the right-wing, trickle-down failed economic policy the past 30 years. Obama is not going to change much, but it’s been the Romney type capitalism that has sunk us.
1/2 of Americans make less than $500 a week. Half.
If we only had EVEN bigger and bigger government and EVEN higher and higher taxes - we would not have these problems.
Here here here! Took the words right out of cocacobana’s fingers!
Obama’s been in office for 4.5 years, but it’s right wing policies that have decimated the economy? Dude you’re beyond parody.
Obama’s been in office for 4.5 years, but it’s right wing policies that have decimated the economy?
Yes. Now you’re getting it.
>but it’s right wing policies that have decimated the economy?
How many times are you going to ignore this fact?
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE68R40I20100928
It’s why nobody will EVER take you seriously here.
The lack of opportunity created by the left has this country languishing. Tell a leftist what the word “incentive” is, they don’t
have a clue.
The lack of opportunity created by the left has this country languishing.
The lack of opportunity is due to right-wing globalization tripe foisted for 30 years upon an ignorant public.
Spoken like true socialist/closet communist.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE68R40I20100928
Facts. It’s why you look like the troll you are.
It is amazing how the left can excuse the “ONE” of all responsibility
for 4.5 years. The democrats are the ones that have eff’ed this country up for 100 years. i.e. the implementation of the income tax in 1913.
Does the FBI also read your mind with laser beams?
Hey, Mr. Partisan:
Rather than wishing agony on people who voted for the better of the two “viable” candidates, perhaps you should offer ideas for policy solutions.
“Rather than wishing agony on people who voted for the better of the two “viable” candidates, perhaps you should offer ideas for policy solutions.”
I will wish nothing but agony for the imbeciles that voted for all of this. May they suffer for decades to come. And you know that Obama’s base will be the ones’s suffering. Evil rich people like me will take a little hit, but overall we’ll be OK.
Obama’s base will be decimated when the s**t truly hits the fan. And I hope the pain is severe.
As for policy ideas….oh I dunno, how about stuff that works every time it’s tried. Smaller govt, less regulation, lower taxes. Crazy, I know.
Smithers:
I can’t tell whether or not you were hired to make Republicans look bad.
Tell me more about Chinese car exports to America Fed and how globalism only happened in the 1920s and today. I need my mid afternoon comedy fix.
Slithers:
You might do well to read my reply to Whac-a-Bubble for your answer. You can’t just ignore 90% of the comments on a board, repeat your same tired, disproven mantra all day long, and expect people to take you seriously.
The only thing that is tiring is the same old regurgitated crap coming from the mouths of liberals every days on this blog.
>I can’t tell whether or not you were hired to make Republicans look bad.
Oh he was hired. The GOP is fanatically opposed to paying for quality.
Obama’s base will be decimated when the s**t truly hits the fan.
Dems have won the Presidential popular vote in 5 out of the last 6 elections.
Repubs are toast.
As for policy ideas….oh I dunno, how about stuff that works every time it’s tried. Smaller govt, less regulation, lower taxes. Crazy, I know.
When were these things tried and which regulations are you talking about?
For that matter, when did they actually work?
Gotta love the MSM spin on Detroit. Hey man Detroit’s overpaid city workers are not as overpaid as Chicago’s so it’s all good. Detroit’s retirees **ONLY** get $45,000 a year in pension starting at 55 years old. Chump change. So shut up about this ok wingnuts? It’s all Bush’s fault anyway.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/just-generous-detroits-worker-pensions-101900103.html;_ylt=AgNBz81Ru5sVdR9ms_SDUESiuYdG;_ylu=X3oDMTNyajRxbmY2BG1pdANGUCBUb3AgU3RvcnkgTGVmdARwa2cDNTEzMWU3YzgtMDQ2Zi0zMDY5LWI1ZDUtOGEzOWQxMDZhMzZmBHBvcwMxBHNlYwN0b3Bfc3RvcnkEdmVyAzZjMTZmNjU2LWYzOWYtMTFlMi1iZmVmLTlhMDIzN2M3NjAyNg–;_ylg=X3oDMTFkcW51ZGliBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANob21lBHB0A3BtaA–;_ylv=3
It is all Bush’s fault.
And if you think bailing out Detroit and Illinois will be expensive, wait until you get to pay for reparations for slavery.
Spoken like a true liberal.
Old people should not get any money.
Detroit’s problems are caused by the decimation of the manufacturing industry, thanks to globalism. If manufacturing had not been packed off to China, then Detroit would still be flush, and it could afford to pay retirement pensions.
“If manufacturing had not been packed off to China, then Detroit would still be flush, and it could afford to pay retirement pensions.”
Do many Americans buy cars from China? I haven’t seen any in my neck of the woods…
There is more than just cars, but no, I guess China isn’t making cars. I think a lot of the car manufacturing got moved to Mexico.
Also Kentucky.
Commonwealth ranks fourth in nation for light vehicle production
FRANKFORT, Ky. – Kentucky’s thriving automotive industry enjoyed a banner year in 2012, with annual production reaching more than one million vehicles for the first time since 2007, before the national economic downturn.
With more than 1,025,000 light vehicles produced, Kentucky ranks fourth in the nation for total light vehicle production, up from fifth in 2011. Kentucky produced more than 477,000 cars, ranking third, and fourth for light trucks with more than 548,000. Additionally, one in every 10 light vehicles produced in the United States during 2012 was made in Kentucky.
“We are moving in the right direction, with more than a million vehicles produced and a ranking of fourth overall in the country for light vehicle production, making this a promising time for the Commonwealth,” said Gov. Beshear. “We need to continue to build on this success, but we can be extremely proud of the top quality vehicles made right here in Kentucky and sold all over the world.”
…
Whac:
I have noticed that the southern states are doing better economically. You can look around and see the rot in the northern and western states, but not so much in the south.
“I have noticed that the southern states are doing better economically.”
That’s UNPOSSIBLE!! The South is nothing but toothless tea billies who marry their sisters. My liberal betters keep telling me this. It must be true.
First Canada. It’s still there.
Then Mexico.
Then Japan. (parts and co-design)
All still in place.
Same with appliances.
Same with textiles, except add now add India, Taiwan, Malaysia, etc to the list.
Same with computer and consumer electronics. Now add China to the list.
The full list is even longer.
>You can look around and see the rot in the northern and western states, but not so much in the south.
????????
Texas’ deficit was only rivaled by CA’s. It was only magical bookkeeping that managed to hide Texas’ $23 BILLION deficit.
Yes, you can google that.
Then there’s Louisiana. Did you miss Louisiana? Florida?
What southern states are you talking about?
If you were to look into it you’d probably find that nearly all of the southern States have incomes that are lower than the national average. Kentucky itself has an unemployment rate that’s a bit higher than the national rate.
I guess I never considered Texas a southern state, although it is quite south. I always considered it a western state.
For some reason, I consider Florida to be another planet.
I missed Louisiana.
OK, I admit, I’m not an expert on all the states. My comment was just based on the way things looked when I drove cross-country a couple years ago.
There are no Big 3 products made in China and exported to the US.
What liberals don’t acknowledge in the Detroit debate is the fact that auto production in the US has increased. By a lot. It just hasn’t increased in Detroit. It has increased exponentially over the past 20 years in Alabama, Georgia, S. Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Texas, Kentucky. Mercedes makes cars in Alabama. BMW makes them in S. Carolina. Toyota makes them in Texas and Kentucky. Nissan and VW in Tennessee. Kia/Hyundai makes them in Alabama and Georgia.
And every year this list grows and the number of cars manufactured grows as well.
Oh right. By foreign car makers who have well paying unions in their own country.
But thanks for making the liberal’s point for them.
You remind me of the townfolk in Blazing Saddles. Ever seen that movie?
” If manufacturing had not been packed off to China, then Detroit would still be flush, and it could afford to pay retirement pensions.”
More “economic analysis” from the HBB’s in house economic doofus economist who doesn’t understand that with regards to the US auto industry, China is a non-entity.
“Detroit’s problems are caused by the decimation of the manufacturing industry, thanks to globalism. If manufacturing had not been packed off to China, then Detroit would still be flush, and it could afford to pay retirement pensions.”
Not due to globalism.. due to product inferiority. Detroit made crappy cars from 1965 - 1995. They lost market share. I would believe differently if you could show me that less than 25% of the population in Detroit drives a Japanese car.
Both, actually.
But yeah, crappy cars was ultimately the root of it all.
Are they better now? Yes. By far. But STILL NOT BETTER than foreign cars.
Sad isn’t? Excessive import tariffs and restrictions failed to stop the German/Asian onslaught of quality cars at AFFORDABLE prices. Built by…. unions.
Payback is a beach.
Yeah, I was mainly referring to the non-auto manufacturing. I drive a Japanese car, and have never bought an American one.
Old people should not get any money.
Just old people? You’re a bleeding heart. No one should get any money.
Workers don’t share in companies’ productivity gains
http://money.cnn.com/2013/03/07/news/economy/compensation-productivity/index.html
Companies are on a tear in terms of productivity and profits, but they aren’t sharing much of the gains with their workers.
The gap between hourly compensation and productivity is the highest it’s been since just after World War II. This divergence is one of the major drivers of the nation’s growing income inequality.
“A bigger share of what businesses in the U.S. are producing is going to the owners of the firms and the people who lent money to the firm, and a smaller share is going to workers,” said Gary Burtless, senior fellow in economic studies at The Brookings Institution.
Productivity, which measures the goods and services generated per hour worked, rose by 80.4% between 1973 and 2011, compared to a 10.7% growth in median hourly compensation, according to the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, which crunched the numbers last year.
That’s a marked shift from the trend between 1948 and 1973, when productivity and compensation grew in tandem.
The main reason for the wider gap is a dampening of wage growth in recent decades, both among the college-educated and those without degrees, said Lawrence Mishel, the institute’s president. Global competition and national deregulation have kept compensation down, while the decline of union power weakened workers’ ability to bargain for higher pay.
This is why Americans should oppose global corporatism. The lack of tariffs is choking off our economy. It’s a race to the bottom - Who needs it?
Protectionism is to economics what flat earth is to geography.
Slithers is to The Federal Reserve what wet is to water.
“Slithers is to The Federal Reserve what wet is to water.”
Not really. I just understand the world around me and benefit from it instead of whining about how everything is unfair. Try it some time. You’ll be surprised at the results.
Run Slithers Run.
What would you know, Smithers? You have demonstrated the most unsophisticated view of “economics” that I have ever encountered in a person who purports to follow the subject. You also don’t believe in global warming, so there goes the flat Earth comment.
I believe in global warming. I don’t believe it has anything to do with the SUV. You know since the earth has been cooling and warming since about 4 billion years before the SUV was invented.
Anyone who thinks protectionism is a good idea is not only devoid of economic fundamentals, he is devoid of common sense logic. You are the 16th century doctor who prescribes leeches as a cure.
Smithers:
I have asked many times with no answer from you, but I will ask again anyway.
If protectionism is so bad, then how come the United States did so well when we practiced it? How come our economy has done nothing but decline since we stopped?
“If protectionism is so bad, then how come the United States did so well when we practiced it? How come our economy has done nothing but decline since we stopped?”
When was this magical period of “did so well” under protectionism?
Your problem Fed is you think manufacturing is the only measure of prosperity. You don’t understand the very basic economic principle of comparative advantage that states a rich country like the US shouldn’t be making trinkets. Instead a poor country like China or Vietnam or Mexico should me making those trinkets. A rich country like us should be making twitter and amazon and google and microsoft (and you know what I mean by “making”).
Countries grow by innovating new industries, not by protecting old industries. Everyone with even a hint of economic education understand this. Why do you insist on arguing for a policy that has been discredited by virtually everyone across the political spectrum? Economists don’t agree on much, ever. That protectionism is an idiotic policy is one of those rate things they do agree on almost unanimously.
Also your premise that “the economy has declined since we stopped” is beyond ridiculous. The economy has been growing for the past 50 years at levels unprecedented in the history of the world.
Real GDP (as in adjusted for inflation) today is 13.75T. It was 11.3T in 2000. It was 8T in 1990. It was 6T in 1980. It was 4.25T in 1970. It was 2.8T in 1960. It was 2T in 1950.
The country produces 7 times more goods and services today than in 1950. At the same time the population doubled. Twice the population making 7 times as much. And you look at this data and claim the economy has been declining? You have no clue what you’re talking about.
Slithers:
There have only been two times in US history when we tried to practice glogalism. The first time was right before the Great Depression. The second time is now. Under protectionism, as a fledging, this country became the greatest nation the world has ever seen. Under globalism, we have only seen rising unemployment and decreasing wages.
“There have only been two times in US history when we tried to practice glogalism. The first time was right before the Great Depression. The second time is now.”
Fed,
You have no idea what you are talking about. Google Smoot-Hawley and learn a lesson or two about basic economics and what protectionism did.
Globalism has been practiced since the dawn of times. Trade was the backbone of the economies of Rome, Greece, Sparta, The Ottoman Empire, and every other great civilization. You are truly a fool if you think trade between countries is some kind of new invention.
“Under globalism, we have only seen rising unemployment and decreasing wages.”
Are you really this dense to not understand that real GDP has multiplied by 7 times since 1950, while the population has doubled? That means that the country is 350% richer today than it was in 1950 thanks to trade.
You may well be the most obtuse person on HBB.
Once again, Smoot-Hawley wasn’t an island of protectionism in a sea of globalism. It was an example of tariffs that were perhaps too high, and its effect on the economy at that time is debatable.
-I think you meant to say “globalism”, not trade. The United States has had tariffed trade for the overwhelming majority of its history. Yes, some countries in the past tried to do otherwise. Look what happened to them. Their emperialism was their Achille’s heel.
Unemployment in the 1950s was like 3%. A single person with a high-school diploma could support a spouse and 2-3 kids. Getting fired was nearly impossible, and getting another job was easy. Life before the Great Depression was not as good as the 1950s. However, life was better before the US tried to dabble in the globalism that led up to the Great Depression.
Our economy has been declining ever since we started stripping our tariffs in the 1970s. You are not going to fool anyone with your fake statistics about population and income. You probably didn’t even adjust for inflation. You probably also didn’t account for the fact that mothers with little kids are holding full-time jobs these days, even throughout pregnancy, just to prevent starvation. Anyone who has been alive for more than 30 years can see the huge economic decline that has occured throughout their own lifetime.
^^^^^^^
LOLZ
Slithers Slithers Slithers….
“Our economy has been declining ever since we started stripping our tariffs in the 1970s. ”
REAL GDP 1970: 4.25 trillion
REAL GDP 2013: 13.75 trillion
What a decline!!
You are a fool. Stop talking.
“You probably didn’t even adjust for inflation. ”
You are beyond pathetic. What do you think REAL GDP means? It means adjusted for inflation.
And you’re an economist?
LOL!!
You’e a fool. Stop talking. Please. I can’t handle the idiocies coming from your brain for much longer.
“Unemployment in the 1950s was like 3%. ”
For 2 of the 10 years. The other years….
1954 5.5%
1955 4.4%
1956 4.1%
1957 4.3%
1958 6.8%
1959 5.5%
Compare that to the 2000s during the evil Bush/Globalist years when pregnant women are starving to death….
2000 4.0
2001 4.7
2002 5.8
2003 6.0
2004 5.5
2005 5.1
2006 4.6
2007 4.6
You are a fool. Stop talking.
“You are not going to fool anyone with your fake statistics about population and income. ”
Fake? Oh right, because all govt data is fake and manipulated by the eeeeevil bankers. Only anecdotal evidence about pregnant starving women is “real” data.
GDP today is 7 times what it was in 1950s. That’s not my opinion, that’s fact. The population in 1950 was 150M. It’s 300 and change today. That’s not my opinion, that’s fact. You can choose to live on an alternate planet or you can take the tin foil hat off and try to understand the world around you.
LOLZ Slithers.
REAL GDP 1970: 4.25 trillion
REAL GDP 2013: 13.75 trillion
August 15, 1971 President Nixon officially took the United States off the Gold Standard.
“Protectionism is to economics what flat earth is to geography.”
Bollocks. Excuse to pardon corporations from environmental pollution and slave wages in foreign countries. There is a cost to be borne for environmental controls and living wages. Free trade should be subject to foreign compliance with US environmental and labor law.
Testify, brothah!
Smithers, the US economy is big enough to withstand the moral assault you seem to consider “protectionism”. Tariffs, regulations, etc. are just tools like any other and they can be used correctly or they can be abused. Why do you argue as if everything is an absolute?
Even CNN Money has a front-page article describing the stock market as “the walking dead”, and warning everyone about the dead-cat bounce in the housing market.
It almost seems as though the U.S. headline stock market indexes have reached stall speed (or is it a permanently high plateau?).
Meanwhile, I’m wondering: Is it too late to go to gold?
Henc GDXJ up 20% in two weeks. Gold smells a rush to safety is at hand. Physical demand way up.
SWA 345……..
-Checked my flight tracking service. Aircraft was an hour late out of scheduled Nashville departure time…..average departure time is 20 minutes late.
-For some reason, they slowed down to 250-300 knots and entered a holding pattern over Charlottesville, VA. (Airplane problem? Sequencing issue into LGA, possibly because of late Nashville departure?)
-Most Nashville-LGA flights (weather permitting) appear to fly same air route to LGA…..east to vicinity of AP Hill VOR (southwest of DC), then northeast to LGA. For some reason, this flight continued east, like they were going to go to Dulles/Washington National/BWI. Where is SWA’s east coast hub/maintenance shop?
Mortgage lender accused of paying illegal bonuses for costlier loans
Source: Los Angeles Times
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday sued Castle & Cooke Mortgage, accusing it of paying illegal bonuses to employees who steered home buyers toward higher-interest loans….
…The bureau sued in federal court in Utah, where Castle & Cooke is based, accusing two of its top executives of running a quarterly bonus program that paid $6,100 to $8,700 to loan officers who persuaded consumers to take out pricier mortgages….
… “Consumers should be able to get a mortgage without worrying about how the financial incentives of their loan officers may cause them to pay higher rates than they actually qualify for,” said Richard Cordray, the bureau’s director….
http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-castle-cooke-mortgage-consumer-bureau-bonus-20130723,0,591625.story
Shocking. (that were busted)
Good find!
“The bureau sued in federal court in Utah, where Castle & Cooke is based…”
Isn’t Utah god’s do-gooders country?
AT the end of Gail Zamore’s latest spot on the local news her lawyer is quoted…
“The defence of faulty loan documents has worked in other cases”
She’s back, scroll down 26 stories on the top stories list and you will once again see foreclosure fighter Gail Zamore on the local news. But this week instead of Gail Zamore is fighting foreclosure, even though her home has just been sold. “I will fight them, this is my home” “I asked for a modification” as seen…
http://cbs12.com/news/top-stories/stories/womans-foreclosure-highlights-need-proactive-8884.shtml?wap=0 - 436k -
We have….
Foreclosure victim pickets her lawyer
By Chuck Weber/CBS 12
BOCA RATON– A woman who’s losing her home to foreclosure, picketed outside the office of her Boca Raton lawyer on Monday.
“Don’t go with this guy, don’t go with this guy,” Gail Zamore shouted at a passing driver.
Zamore held signs at the office of C. William Berger. Zamore says she paid Berger thousands, but only found out about the foreclosure auction sale of her Tequesta home two days after it happened.
Zamore says no one told her about the final court hearing in May, and she questioned her lawyer’s tactics.
“I did not get the help of $25,000 that I gave this lawyer,” said Zamore. “I received nothing– except my home is gone.”
CBS 12 visited the law office. We were told Berger was not available.
Berger called us later, and defended his work on Zamore’s case. He said he’s kept her in her home for more than 3 years. Berger said clients are generally advised not to attend the final hearing.
http://www.cbs12.com/news/top-stories/ - 457k -
I would like to dedicate this song to Gail Zamore.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWsJcg-g1pg - 132k -
Gail Zamore walks warily down the street,
With the brim pulled way down low
Ain’t no sound but the sound of her feet,
Picket signs ready to go
Are you ready, are you ready for this
Are you hanging on the edge of your seat
Out of the doorway the insults fly
To the sound of the beat
Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
And another one gone, and another one gone
Another one bites the dust
Hey, I’m gonna get you too
Another one bites the dust
How do you think I’m going to get along,
Without you, when you’re gone
You took me for everything that I had,
And kicked me out on my home
Are you happy, are you satisfied
How long can you stand the heat
Out of the doorway the insults fly
To the sound of the beat
Chorus
Unions….a relic of the 1930s that needs to go away.
“Wisconsin’s public employees are leaving their unions in droves, which should be no surprise: With passage of Act 10 in 2011, public unions in the Badger State lost many of their reasons for being. The “budget-repair bill” pushed through the Legislature by Republicans and signed into law by Gov. Scott Walker limited bargaining to wages only, and then only up to the cost of living; it also required unions to recertify each year and barred the automatic collection of union dues. Relying on federal financial records, the Journal Sentinel’s Dan Bice found union membership has declined by 50% or more at some unions, including the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees District Council 48, which represents Milwaukee city and county workers. It has gone from more than 9,000 members and income exceeding $7 million in 2010 to about 3,500 members and a deep deficit by the end of last year. “
Unions.
Building German and Asian cars that are better than Detroit’s.
The 40 Year Old
Virginfirst-time home buyer.Both are soon to get screwed.