Bits Bucket for June 12, 2014
Post off-topic ideas, links, and Craigslist finds here.
The Housing Bubble
Examining the home price boom and its effect on owners, lenders, regulators, realtors and the economy as a whole.
About Me
Name:Ben Jones
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
To donate by mail, or to otherwise contact this blogger, please send emails to: thehousingbubble@gmail.com
PayPal is a secure online payment method which accepts ALL major credit cards.
Links
-
November 2024 M T W T F S S « Sep 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Photo Submission: hbbphotos@gmail.com
View the HBB Photo Gallery *updated 4/13/2008
Are you feeling alarmed about the global housing bubble?
Housing
IMF sounds global housing alarm
Robin Harding
8 Hours Ago
Financial Times
The world must act to contain the risk of another devastating housing crash, the International Monetary Fund warned on Wednesday, as it published new data showing house prices are well above their historical average in many countries.
The warning from the IMF shows how an acceleration in global house prices from already high levels has emerged as one of the major threats to economic stability, with countries making limited progress in keeping them under control.
Min Zhu, the IMF’s deputy managing director, said the tools for containing housing booms were “still being developed” but that “this should not be an excuse for inaction”.
House prices “remain well above the historical averages for a majority of countries” in relation to incomes and rents, Mr Zhu said in a speech to the Bundesbank last week, which was only released on Wednesday because it clashed with a European Central Bank announcement.
“This is true for instance for Australia, Belgium, Canada, Norway and Sweden,” he said.
In the wake of the global recession central bankers have cut interest rates to record lows, pushing house prices to a level that the IMF regards as a significant risk to economies as diverse as Hong Kong and Israel.
…
BS. What’s the real reason for the release of this concerted news reporting by the IMF? This is true now but it was also true at the time of the 2008 collapse in housing.What is true is that there has been a world wide collaborative effort to re-inflate the bubble in order to spread the fiscal damage around the world. All in the misguided ideology that given just a little time economies would pick up, a major depression wouldn’t occur, and life would proceed once again under their divine guidance. This article should have been top news in 2008, poorly guided banks should have failed. etc. What the IMF should be talking about today is the new restrictions coming on July 1 that will effect the dollar as a reserve currency, and restrictions on money movement of your savings in and out of banking around the world.
Don’t know if you saw this recently, but someone here stated that he believed we’ve been in a depression for a while now.
I agree that we are. Imagine what our economy would look like now if we had the same credit landscape/availability we had during the 1930s.
Also, imagine the difference in perspective today if we saw the 44 million now on stamps/SNAP lined up in the streets waiting for food.
We’ve become the masters of “out of sight, out of mind”.
In a Depression…
Yes we are. Unemployment, those of working age not working, has been going up by 2 million a year since the “crisis”. Wages are sideways or down and the cost of food has tripled. In a country where building houses is a primary industry, we are dozing along at 1960 rate and still have tens of millions of surplus houses. GDP is flat lined despite massive deficit spending. That is a Depression.
It is disconcerting that these diverging vectors are completely ignored by our fearless leaders after six years. Apparently we will hit some kind of natural boundary before we hit a rational one.
Nonsense! The parking lot at my Applebee’s is completely full!
oh wait, there are people sleeping in the cars.
“In a country where building houses is a primary industry, we are dozing along at 1960 rate and still have tens of millions of surplus houses.”
By contrast, China has a huge surplus and is overbuilding more and more houses at an astronomical rate.
I have a hunch that won’t continue for much longer, and it won’t be pretty when it stops.
Yeah, but the people sleeping in the cars are from the Department of Homeland Security, and they’re here to help
News flash: The folks who overpaid by $60K or so for the 1/2 of a duplex next door are a young Chinese family “fresh off the boat,” according to my lovely wife.
P.S. The two kids (1 and 4) don’t speak a lick of English, but boy can they scream up a storm in Chinese!
Every now and then there is a cover speech or two by the IMF some Fed lone wolf or some statist shill. CYA for some point in the future, but meaningless.
The horse is out of the barn again, so it’s time for the PTB to step in and talk about closing the barn door when the dead horse is being rendered at the glue factory. These people are stupid beyond words.
Anyone with 3rd grade math skills could figure out that massive income increases would be needed to support bubble prices.
“Anyone with 3rd grade math skills could figure out that massive income increases would be needed to support bubble prices.”
+1 It doesn’t require much in the way of due diligence to see that it will never pencil-out.
In the wake of the global recession central bankers have cut interest rates to record lows, pushing house prices to a level that the IMF regards as a significant risk to economies as diverse as Hong Kong and Israel.
It’s a bubbly world after all!
They should change the wretched ride at Disneyland. Replace the smiling dolls from around the world with dolls representing bankers, realtors and FBs (all in their native garb, of course) flipping real estate.
The new ride would need a new song, of course. Something like:
It’s a world of unsold condos
It’s a world of low rate loans
etc.
IMF warns on global housing bubble
by Danielle Levy on Jun 12, 2014 at 07:46
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that another housing crash could be afoot if governments do not take action against rising prices.
The Financial Times reported that the IMF has sounded a warning as it published new data that shows house prices are well above their historical average in many countries. They believe global housing is now emerging as a major threat to economic stability, particularly if countries do not move to quash the trend.
The IMF, headed by Christine Lagarde (pictured), said house prices are now at a level that could pose a significant risk to economies across the world, including Hong Kong and Israel. As an example, house prices in Canada are now 33% above their long-term average in relation to incomes and 87% above their long-term average compared with rents. In the UK this figure is 27% relative to incomes and 38% in comparison to rents, the Financial Times reported.
…
So, on the one hand, increasing prices is a sign of recovering economies.
And on the other, they are a sign of economies run amok.
I dunno about you, Whac, but I think both are a sign to trust neither and just go about my regular business.
Seems a beautiful day in the neighborhood is on tap today. I think I’ll go get an ice cream cone.
Yep, just go about your own business filling up with $106 crude, shopping for inflated groceries, and posting on your NSA infected computer. What’s not to love?
“…they are a sign of
economiescentral bankers run amok.”Fixed it.
Home prices outpacing earnings: IMF
Date June 12, 2014
Clancy Yeates
Banking reporter
There are two types of housing market concerns, ANZ says: it’s either going up too quickly or it’s showing signs of running out of steam.
Australian homes are among the most expensive in the world when household incomes and rents are taken into account, International Monetary Fund figures show.
As part of a move to push governments to act against housing bubbles, the fund unveiled comparative data on Thursday morning intended to underline the high cost of homes.
It shows rising prices have pushed two key measures of home values - the ratios of house prices to incomes and prices to rents - well above their long-term averages.
With houses selling for more than four times the average household income, the IMF said this ratio in Australia was much higher than its historical average.
A 24-country comparison showed that Australian homes were behind only those of Belgium and Canada when judged by this measure.
…
Does anyone else sense a sudden shift by governments who created this housing bubble mess to distance themselves from it?
Like our government offering Mo Credik?
Fitch sees mainland economy paying high price if property bubble bursts
Ratings agency says lack of transparency in reporting non-performing loans and doubts over official figures add to risk of credit crisis
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 11 June, 2014, 1:15am
UPDATED : Wednesday, 11 June, 2014, 11:47am
Analysts were apprehensive about an oversupplied property market in China. Photo: AFP
The bursting of China’s property bubble would wipe 1 per cent off mainland economic growth and cause serious problems for the nation’s banks, the ratings agency Fitch said yesterday.
“[Property] is our biggest macro concern in China. The fact there is such an overhang of supply … if the market were to collapse it would affect the economy and in turn banks,” Jonathan Cornish, Fitch’s head of north Asia banks, said at the agency’s global banking conference in Hong Kong.
He estimated that a property market downturn would take about 1 per cent off mainland gross domestic product growth rates.
“Clearly if the property market were to slow down very sharply … [that] would have significant implications in terms of potential credit cost,” he said.
Analysts were apprehensive about an oversupplied property market in China.
A report from Nomura in March said there was 370 square feet of residential floor space created for each new urban resident in China last year.
At current rates of expansion, this will increase to 670 sq ft by 2017, giving each new urbanite the equivalent of a mid-sized Hong Kong flat.
“The ballooning supply in the pipeline will likely become increasingly difficult for incremental demand to absorb,” said Nomura in its report.
…
At least SoCal is showing some housing market improvements.
Once-hot Southern California housing market further cooled in May
Home prices continued to cool off in the Southland in May, report says
A real estate agent shows a house in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. Home sales slowed down in May. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Tim Logan
The Southern California housing market continued to mellow out in May, with price gains slowing down and sales still running low.
The typical house in the six-county region sold for $410,000 in May, according to figures from San Diego-based DataQuick. That’s up 1.5% from April and 11.4% from May of 2013, the smallest annual gain in nearly two years.
After fast appreciation last spring, Southland home prices have largely leveled out since interest rates rose last summer and more houses trickled out for sale. But with investors backing out and the stocks of foreclosures and short sales drying up, the market now hinges on regular buyers, and they’re facing tight lending, a soft economy and prices that, while still nearly one-fifth below their mid-2000s peaks, now sit well above what they had been the last few years.
“The recent dip in mortgage rates will help fuel demand,” said DataQuick analyst Andrew LePage. “But the sort of price spikes we saw this time last year — annual gains of 20% or more — are less likely today given affordability constraints, higher inventory and the drop-off in investor purchases.”
…
Cue Permanently high plateau talk on 3, 2, 1…
+1 Exactly.
Prices are permanently high because of permanently low interest rates. A high price and a low interest rate result in the SAME PITI.
Yes, I know that a low price and high interest rate is desirable, because you can always refinance later. But I don’t see interest rates rising anytime soon.
Yeah, I don’t rising rates either, but that’s exactly what SHOULD be happening. I’m already preparing for negative rates and banks charging for deposits. If that happens, I am taking every dollar out of checking and savings and hiding it. I will go to an all-cash lifestyle and quit banks altogether. I am in a position where I can.
Mortgage rate have been increasing for a year.
“Prices are permanently high because of permanently low interest rates.”
Great theory except for one small issue: Permanently low interest rates are an illusion destined to soon end.
Southern California housing market settles to a stable pace
home sales
Even as sales have declined, the inventory of homes for sale has grown, with more traditional sellers wading into the market this spring. That’s giving buyers more to choose from. (Bryan Chan / Los Angeles Times)
Tim Logan
After several topsy-turvy years, Southern California’s housing market is starting to look almost normal.
Home prices grew again in May, but not at the frenzied pace seen last spring. Sales are down, but mostly because there are fewer foreclosures to buy. More home sellers are testing the market. But big bidding wars are so last year.
All of it signals a housing market that’s settling to a more stable, even healthy, pattern, which analysts say is a notable change from the big ups and downs of the bubble and its aftermath.
“The market’s not bad,” said Leslie Appleton-Young, chief economist for the California Assn. of Realtors, who sees prices going up but competition easing. “The urgency’s gone. I think that’s a positive thing. I really do.”
The slowdown has been underway for months, but it showed up anew in home sales numbers out Wednesday for May, a big month for the key spring real estate season.
The median price of a home sold in the six-county Southland was $410,000, according to San Diego-based DataQuick. That’s up 11.4% from the same month last year, the slowest annual gain since August of 2012, and just 1.5% above the median price recorded in April.
The number of sales, meanwhile, fell 15.1%, as investors continued to trickle out of the market and the supply of bargain-rate foreclosures dried up.
More and more, the market hinges on regular people buying houses with normal mortgages, and with lending standards still tight and the economy still feeling soft, there’s only so much those people will pay.
“We’re bumping along a ceiling. I really can’t see values going up much more,” said Steven Thomas, of ReportsOnHousing.com, which analyzes Southern California housing markets. “Buyers are homing in on trying to pay a fair value. A year ago, everyone was willing to pay extra. Now that bidding up is not happening.”
…
Are economic worries keeping you on the housing market sidelines?
Economic worries still dragging down housing market, Fannie Mae says
Tim Logan contact the reporter
Fannie Mae
Nearly 6 in 10 Americans still think economy headed in ‘wrong direction,’ Fannie Mae says. So why buy a house?
Broad concerns about the sluggish economy are still holding back the housing market, according to a survey released Monday by Fannie Mae.
The lending giant’s monthly national housing survey found that 57% of Americans think the economy is heading in “the wrong direction,” and chief economist Doug Duncan said that’s keeping a lot of people on the home-buying sidelines.
“Consumers’ lukewarm expectations and reticence about the economy seem to be holding back housing demand,” Duncan said. “This year’s spring and summer buying season has gotten off to a slow start, even as mortgage rates have trended lower over the last two months. Our national housing survey data show that economic conditions continue to be the top concern among consumers who think it’s a bad time to buy or sell a home.”
The proportion of respondents to the phone survey who say they think home prices will go up over the next year fell to 48% in May from 50% in April. Meanwhile those who said home prices will go down increased to 7%, up two points from April, the lowest point in the four-year history of the survey.
A large majority of respondents — 68% — still think it’s a good time to buy a house, while the number of people who think it’s a good time to sell also continues to trend upward, hitting an all-time high of 43%.
Despite the good feelings about buying and selling, however, Duncan sees worries about the weak economy still dragging down sales. Fannie Mae continues to predict that sales volume for all of 2014 will lag behind last year.
…
have americans finally caught on to ponzinomics?
Talk to me at Dow 8,000 and I may answer yes.
What no one talks about is the sure speed - the velocity - t which economic cycles/events move these days.
As Ponzi schemes inflate, so does the pace of the action.
Our government is an inflating Ponzi scheme. More lies and more laws need to be generated more quickly as time passes to keep Washington afloat.
What is happening now has nothing to do with serving the needs of the people, no matter what you believe those needs to be. Rather, it’s all about serving the needs of Washington, DC, which itself is beginning to panic. The velocity of policy actions and reversals, and willful ignorance of the law is increasing.
Realtors are liars.
Regarding Iraq, paraphrasing Colin Powell: “You broke it, you bought it.”
What a mess.
It is true and ISIS or ISIL has Syria in its name and ISIL renewed strength in Syria. Bush II broke Iraq and Obama broke Syria and they both own what is happening now. They share equal blame if you truly understand their roles.
What in the heck are ISIS or ISIL?
I long for the day when people stop talking in acronyms. More often than not, I find myself skipping posts/ignoring parts of conversations that are acronym-heavy.
They are the same group and their names are just too wordy. But ISIL stands for the Islamic State in the Iraq and the Levant and ISIS stands for Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.( Islamic fundies).
Our tax dollars at work supplying Humvees to ISIL:https://uk.news.yahoo.com/mosul-siege-islamic-militants-parade-captured-us-supplied-173713926.html#NPC7NCM
Thanks.
Why does Obama own Syria? Because he didn’t follow the usual chicken hawk policy of sending in troops where they have no business being? I don’t think Obama wants to be remembered as being dumber than George Bush and Dick Cheney. Let the Middle East fight it’s own battles.
He owns Syria because he promoted the opposition to Assad and then when the military conflict began he provided money to the opposition and assisted in the delivery of weapons to the opposition. Once you start a war, you must win in because as it has been said the only thing worse than a battle fought and won is a battle loss. You have all the death without any positive consequences. Some stories have even stated that the attack on our embassy in Libya was related to an arms smuggling operation run by the CIA to deliver Libyan weapons to Syria.
BTW I don’t care who is dumber but at least the surge in Iraq was an attempt to win and did stabilize the situation enough to allow Obama to withdrawal our forces. If you think we are going to be able to stay out of the mess that Obama created, you are very naïve since the major war between Shiite islam and Sunni Islam will occur without our intervention. I would just let it happen but Obama will not because it would cause an depression on his watch. I have warned on this board for years that we were increasing the risk of that regional war.
‘at least the surge in Iraq was an attempt to win and did stabilize the situation enough to allow Obama to withdrawal our forces’
Ah, “defend the surge”. There was one in Afghanistan too, right? Worked great.
The US did everything they could to stay in Iraq. Like they are doing in Afghanistan. The Iraqi’s wouldn’t give them immunity so they had to leave.
Probably the reason we aren’t invading more countries now is the US military got beat by a bunch of goat herders, twice. If you know anything about fourth generation war, you wouldn’t be surprised.
But it’s highly ethical and moral to inject arms and money to get people fighting against each other. Especially since there is no telling who is going to get killed or how many or how long it will go on. You know, pick a country; I’d bet if you sent in enough money and weapons, you could find some local group that wants to topple every government on the planet. Even ours.
Adding troops so that you can withdraw them…
“…the US military got beat by a bunch of goat herders, twice.”
Dang! I’m surprised with all the NSA surveillance, torture in violation of Geneva Convention rules, and targeted assassination drone strikes, we can’t come out any better against a band of goat herders.
I don’t think Obama wants to be remembered as being dumber than George Bush and Dick Cheney.
Too late on that front, but otherwise valid points.
‘U.S. providing some lethal aid to Syrian rebels: opposition spokesman’
‘Obama approves military aid for Syrian rebels, deepening U.S. involvement in bloody civil war.’
‘Syria: nearly half rebel fighters are jihadists or hardline Islamists, says IHS Jane’s report ‘
Don’t know if Obama will be remembered as dumber than Bush.
More devious, certainly.
Obama gets style points I suppose. On substance, any honest person would agree Obama is dumber than bush.
That’s not what I said.
I said he was more devious. “Devious” is not a style. It’s a behavior.
“What a mess.”
And what a surprise!
(not)
‘They share equal blame’
Yes, and let’s have a hundred comments beating that to death.
I’m more interested in the present:
‘The provincial governor of Nineveh, Atheel al-Nujaifi, confirmed that the ISIS Islamists had lifted additional millions from numerous banks across Mosul, as well as a “large quantity of gold bullion,” according to the International Business Times, which called it the “World’s Richest Terror Force.”
‘The declaration isn’t an easy one to fact check. Not only is the definition of “terrorist” nebulous — are murderous but wealthy Mexican cartels terrorists?’
Everybody’s a terrorist anymore. But hasn’t the US and the Gulf Counsel been funding these people in Syria? If the Iraqi army is running away, who is the legitimate government?
The most under reported aspect of US policy in this area has been our pitting the Sunni’s against the Shi’a, backing the Sunni’s. It’s a disgraceful tactic and a shame the people there fall for it. But so here we see the Sunni uprising, and everyone will shake their head in DC. Tisk, tisk, how awful!
Why don’t we mind our own business and fix our problems instead of creating multi-decade tragedies all over the world? No, it’s on to Ukraine! On to Syria! There is no system we can’t destabilize!
No, it’s on to Ukraine! On to Syria! There no system we can’t destabilize!
And that is my exact point, many do not want to connect the dots and realize that we destabilized Libya, Syria and the Ukraine and we are now reaping the consequences.
‘we are now reaping the consequences’
I’d say the people in Iraq are. Our politicians in DC are probably just finishing their $20 muffins about right now.
Elections were won, money was made….we reaped the consequences years ago.
New full blown civil war may be a boon for MIC to make a little money again.
Those $20 muffins certainly could be put to better use…for example, the purchase 8-10 boxes of paperclips for use by District minions,
Destabilization is the misguided route taken by our government to keep Washington at the head of the table.
Only problem is that it’s ever cheaper for Washington’s enemies to project power.
Dummies.
You broke it, you bought it.
Yeah, right. First, says who. That’s a nice sound bite, but there’s plenty of reasons to break something and not pay.
Second, we broke it? Them people been broken for years. Saddam was broken. People in that area are all nutso, being whipped into a frenzy and being exploited by their religious leaders in cahoots with rich kings, shahs, sheikhs, whatever. Similar to here but much worse.
The military wants another war over there. More bucks. We got a bigger and more threatening war to fight here anyway though.
saddam should not have tried to dodge the us dollar.
FLASHBACK: VP Biden: Iraq “Could Be One of the Great Achievements of This Administration”
ABC News | 2/11/10 | Matt Loffman
On Larry King Live last night, Vice President Joe Biden said Iraq “could be one of the great achievements of this administration. You’re going to see 90,000 American troops come marching home by the end of the summer. You’re going to see a stable government in Iraq that is actually moving toward a representative government.”
The vice president said he’d been to Iraq 17 times and visits the country every three months or so. “I know every one of the major players in all the segments of that society” he said. “It’s impressed me. I’ve been impressed how they have been deciding to use the political process rather than guns to settle their differences.”
At the briefing today, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs was asked about Biden calling Iraq one of the great potential achievements of the Obama administration given that Biden had previously advocated that the country should be divided into thirds and split among Kurds, Shiites, and Sunnis, and then-Sen. Obama opposing the surge of US troops that many experts argue helped bring stability that allowed the reconciliation process to continue.
Peter Van Buren’s book comes to mind. The title: We Meant Well. It’s all about how the U.S. screwed up in Iraq.
I know, let’s create a no-fly zone! That always gets everybody blowed up real good.
“…gets everybody blowed up real good.”
Thanks for the memory.
“For the second quarter in a row, average apartment rents hit historic first-quarter highs in areas of Colorado outside metro Denver, according to a rent and vacancy report released Wednesday by the Colorado Division of Housing.”
http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/blog/real_deals/2014/06/colorado-apartment-rents-outside-denverhit-q1.html
Price of oil up by $2 a barrel just today, that translates into 5 cents a gallon at the pump. Can housing prices stand up to an economic recession? The impact will be the greatest on the developing nations and will impact our exports along with the direct impacts of higher energy prices.
I guess more walmart shoppers will be shopping at dollar stores more.
RAL, what are your thoughts on this place?
http://www.trulia.com/property/3157227754-2933-28th-St-NW-Washington-DC-20008
Overpriced by about $1,000,000.
But you can jog through the National Zoo and Woodley Park every evening after work…
So maybe only overpriced by 800k?
i see a lot of value there
$12,000/year in property taxes…
That was before the rehab (all of which was permitted/inspected).
It will be over 20k if it sells for 7 figures, which it will.
People are stupid, but that location is really nice and it’s a modest house by DC standards. Not nice enough for a law partner or lobbyist, but probably good for a congressman with 4 or 5 terms under his belt.
It won’t sell. Period. Nothing else is either.
So far as I can tell, there is a large recent influx of Chinese immigrants buying houses in North County San Diego. I see them at the store, next door, etc.
Once this latest wave of Chinese expats stops buying, SoCal is toast.
Looks like a polished-up slum house to me.
It aint a slum so what’s the point?
But its got ply-boo in the kitchen. That alone is worth $200k right Liberace?
Quit treating shelter like its your flamboyant wardrobe so you don’t sound so profoundly effeminate.
Is that what that stuff is? It totally clashes with the flooring, the countertops, and the uppder cabinets. I’d ask for my money back.
Liberace?
Eh it’s kind of a nice place, but can’t we get some modern HVAC?
Looking around for rentals where I’m at just to keep my eye on the market. The only place for rent (in my hood) is a similar townhouse priced at $250/mo more than the one I’m renting. Slim pickin’s.
I noticed on Zillow that in December rents take a dive in prices so I’m curious if I could save a bunch of money by renting in December.
On the other hand, I just need to figure out how to double my income.
Be careful Ethan. Most starting rents are bait-and-switch. Your first renewal is going to be a big jump.
If you rent in large corporate complexes that use software like MRI, yes.
We used that when I worked as a property accountant for Archstone.
I rent in a building with about 40 units, that is owned by a small, local company that owns about a dozen buildings, and I don’t have these problems
Nothing like that has ever happened to me. If it did, I’d tell my landlord to take a hike to the courthouse, and then I’d move out one day before the eviction could be officially filed.
I got a great deal by renting in December. Moved in between Christmas and New Years. First renewal increase was 4% - less than my old building was asking every year.
Nice place. Buy it and have a party to which we can be invited :).
The 70’s called- they want their cabinets back.
Oh, and that blue tile floor in conjunction with the marble in the bath is disgusting. In fact, the whole house looks like shat. It’s like somebody with zero taste decided to go shopping for the finish materials.
Agree. What’s even worse is that those “70’s” cabinets are probably custom new. And Japanese slider screens in a Greek Revival house, wtf? The flooring is probably not new… only someone with good taste would pick out that nice hardwood.
I think this commentary on the billable hour could be extrapolated to most careers over the past half century. There is always need for “growth” in revenues and in compensation, which makes it hard to prioritize other things. (Of course people have choices to shrug off this system, as they should.)
———————————–
“A short history of the billable hour and the consequences of its tyranny”
“A 1958 ABA pamphlet contended that lawyers were bad businessmen in comparison to other professionals, the remedy being to better track time and to keep more detailed records. That pamphlet also suggested that lawyers work 1300 hours a year– or 5-6 hours @ day, five days @ week in a 48-week year.”
“In 2001, the ABA asserted that too much emphasis was being placed by firms on billable hour requirements, which was leading to bill padding and general inefficiency, as well as damaging firm culture. This time, the ABA recommended billing expectations of 2300 hours annually, composed of 1900 hours billable to clients plus a total of 400 additional hours for: firm service (100 hours), pro bono (100 hours), client development (75 hours), training and professional development (75 hours) and professional service (50 hours).
Those expectations translate into a total 9-10 client and other hours @ day, five days @ week, 48 weeks @ year. The standard guideline for billable hours is that it takes approximately 10-12 hours to bill 8 hours. In which case, to achieve the ABA expectations, lawyers would be expected to work 12-15 hours daily.”
http://www.lawpeopleblog.com/2007/06/a-short-history-of-the-billable-hour-and-the-consequences-of-its-tyranny/
Lawyers are liars.
True, but you don’t think that 1950s/2000s trend holds for other industries?
There is a tendency to incrementally squeeze more and more out of all workers at all levels, in return for stagnant or shrinking pieces of the pie. I’m not complaining so much as making an observation. And this particular blog post lays it out in a pretty persuasive way.
Lawyers are well paid liars.
We have a great unions that we call bar associations. You cannot practice law when you cross the border illegally, however we can represent you in immigration and criminal proceedings and collect the money you earned while driving down the wages for working class Americans.
Nice gig, ain’t it?
Have you spotted something interesting about this board, Dan?
There has been near-complete silence from the anti-offshoring folks about the importation of uneducated, low-wage people that will steal American jobs and further harm the middle class. And in our own country, not China.
It used to be that offshoring jobs was the means to reduce the cost of business. Now, we can do that here! We can INSHORE! And…and - face increased taxes supporting the very people our government let in to steal our jobs.
There has been near-complete silence from the anti-offshoring folks about the importation of uneducated, low-wage people that will steal American jobs and further harm the middle class.
They will bombard you with their righteous indignation when a republican is in the white house. Until then just enjoy the moments.
‘near-complete silence from the anti-offshoring folks about the importation of uneducated, low-wage people’
Or this:
‘US President Barack Obama will laud the economic benefits of immigration reform Tuesday, most notably in increasing housing prices, still recovering after the 2008 economic crisis, the White House said.’
‘In a statement ahead of the trip, the White House argued that immigration reform — championed by Obama, but stalled in Congress — would substantially increase home values. “Between 2000 and 2010, immigrants accounted for almost 40 percent of new homeowners nationwide,” the statement said, adding that eight in ten new homeowners in California were immigrants.’
I don’t say this to further the bickering. I do want to point out this immigration issue is a good example of how dishonest the entire political environment has become. These people can look us in the face and tell us more workers and higher house prices are good for us. Then they’ll say we need a higher minimum wage in the next sentence, or more credit to buy these houses. And when it comes to higher house prices, name one politician in Washington that is really fighting to stop this bubble.
Stab:
Why are you making everything a political statement.
Mine is not a political statement. There are plenty of folks on both sides of the aisle who are anti-offshoring.
What is lacking, however, are some heated points made by those same people regarding the inshoring of jobs and further destruction of the middle class.
championed by Obama, but stalled in Congress — would substantially increase home values.
Next day in another speech Obama said he would make home affordable for the masses.
Reason # 2625252 Obama is dumber than Bush.
‘There are plenty of folks on both sides of the aisle who are anti-offshoring’
I don’t know about that. For instance, I watched all the presidential debates a couple of years ago, including the primary ones. I don’t recall one mention of the WTO or NAFTA. And that includes Ron Paul.
Why are you making everything a political statement.
Not making political points either. Just exposing hypocrisy of certain segments of left and right both. I don’t vote and I could care less who wins.
I don’t remember who, but on hbber was saying savings account confiscation would be coming soon. Well, check this out:
http://moneysaverhq.heraldsun.com.au/news/government-grabs-360-million-from-idle-household-bank-accounts/story-fnkrnsiy-1226950657835
Hey, my brother’s posting here!
Uh oh, stab wound and open sore are gonna get all brotherly now.
I work in a field where you can bill by the hour or by the project. Guess which the clients prefer.
Okay, I’ll end your suspense. “By the project” wins in a landslide.
“By the project” wins in a landslide.
How many change-orders are included in the bid?
Three other great DC housing buys I found today.
http://www.trulia.com/property/3156099683-2728-32nd-St-NW-Washington-DC-20008
http://www.trulia.com/property/1041425577-4-Thompson-Cir-NW-Washington-DC-20008
http://www.trulia.com/property/1078591311-2811-35th-St-NW-Washington-DC-20007
“Three other great DC housing buys I found today.”
Heck, only $10k/month on the third one. That’s doable, right?
HA, the second house is 10,000 sq feet. Can you build that for me for $181k, please?
Build it yourself. You’re the expert remember? “Housing just can’t be built for less than $200/sq ft.”
Remember that gem of yours DebtJunkie?
I don’t think I said that. I said that Connecticut Valley Homes was charging $75/ sq ft for modest finishings homes, not including land. That’s retail… probably puts them in your $55/sq ft range.
That Tudor is a stunner, and is NOT $55/ sq ft. (Maybe double?)
You’re backpedalling again.
Wow - there is a difference in parties…
—————-
Cruz: Repeal ‘every word’ of ObamaCare
The Hill | June 07, 2014 | Alexandra Jaffe
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) called for the repeal of “every blessed word of ObamaCare” in a fiery speech to a crowd of conservatives in Texas on Friday.
“Today liberty is under assault like never before,” Cruz told the crowd, according to the Houston chronicle. “And again today Texans will stand up and lead the fight for freedom.”
Cruz spoke prior to another presidential prospect, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.). Although the two would likely be fierce rivals if they ran, Cruz said he was part of a long line of Texans that have “always led the fight for freedom,” including Gov. Rick Perry (R).
He also called for an audit of the Federal Reserve, the abolition of the Internal Revenue Service and declared a need to defend “all of the Bill of Rights,” an apparent reference to the debate over gun control.
Cruz the Canadian? What does he think about excessive, subsidized legal and illegal immigration?
And Cruz’ wife is a director at Goldman Sachs. Yah, he’ll bring the real change that we need.
“And Cruz’ wife is a director at Goldman Sachs.”
What a scum bag. And yet the Republican base worships at his feet. Small wonder he is against ACA if he gets gold-plated coverage from Gollum Sux.
Ted Cruz Gets His Health Insurance Through Goldman Sachs, His Wife Confirms
The Huffington Post | By Dave Jamieson Posted: 10/23/2013 6:16 pm EDT | Updated: 10/24/2013 10:43 am EDT
The wife of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) confirmed in an interview with The New York Times what the tea party star’s opponents have insinuated gleefully for weeks: The most vocal opponent of Obamacare enjoys a high-priced health plan through investment bank Goldman Sachs.
“Ted is on my health care plan,” Heidi Nelson Cruz, who has worked in the firm’s management division for eight years, told the paper in a story published Wednesday.
Cruz’s plan through Goldman appeared to be an uncomfortable fact for the conservative senator as he lambasted the health care reform law and helped drive what would become a two-week government shutdown. In an exchange during Cruz’s 20-hour anti-Obamacare marathon on the Senate floor in September, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) tried unsuccessfully to get Cruz to admit where he gets his own coverage.
“Will the senator from Texas for the record tell us now — and those who watched this debate — whether he is protected and his family’s protected?” Durbin asked.
Cruz deflected the discussion toward an uninsured diabetic woman that Durbin had been talking about earlier.
A spokeswoman for Cruz confirmed to the Times that the senator gets his coverage through Goldman. The Wall Street bank told the paper the coverage is worth at least $20,000 a year. “The senator is on his wife’s plan, which comes at no cost to the taxpayer and reflects a personal decision about what works best for their family,” the spokeswoman, Catherine Frazier, said.
As a HuffPost reader noted, it’s debatable whether such a plan comes at no cost to the taxpayer. Employer-sponsored health plans are generally tax-deductible for companies, so the Cruz family’s expensive health plan presumably reduces Goldman’s tax liability.
“Ted is very much a visionary,” Heidi Cruz Nelson told the Times. “He is very strategic, and he’s very practical, and he does what needs to be done, not what everybody wants him to do.”
…
Where is OWS?
—————
Eric Cantor’s loss a blow to Wall Street
Market Watch | June 12, 2014 | By Brody Mullins
Wall Street has many friends in Washington, but House Majority Leader Eric Cantor was a well-placed one who understood how the industry worked and was not afraid to help the financial-services sector, even when he had to take on other members of his own party.
Cantor’s loss in Tuesday’s Republican primary puts a big hole in Wall Street’s Washington Rolodex.
His wife once worked for Goldman Sachs Group Inc., he was a top recipient of Wall Street donations and he regularly stood up for the banks, securities firms and insurance companies.
His defeat will create new uncertainty for pending legislation backed by Wall Street. Cantor in the past had bypassed conservative Republicans and worked with Democrats to approve a bill to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank.
As I posted yesterday, one of Occupy Wall Street’s initial “demands” was for a transaction tax on high-frequency stock trades.
This is unacceptable to the 0.01%er pigmen on Wall Street and in Greenwich, CT, the pigmen who own Congress irrespective of party.
So the narrative had to be restructured, and it was with Drudge link clickbait articles like this:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2046586/Occupy-Wall-Street-Shocking-photos-protester-defecating-POLICE-CAR.html
The 0.01%er pigmen thank you for your continued support of their narrative.
The MSM media tried to smear the Tea Party with so much worse (KKK, racists, starve kids, kill grandma, etc.)
And yet they still get folks elected.
And they are the only people holding the line on amnesty.
The interests of the Media/Academia Race Hustlers Industrial Complex™ may overlap with the interests of the 0.01%er pigmen, but they are not aligned.
Both are interested in destroying this country, but their motivations to do so differ.
We can see here on this blog that many, though certainly not all, people who sympathize with the Tea Party philosophy hold statist views.
One would think they are opposites.
And they are the only people holding the line on amnesty.
Which is why there will be another amnesty.
This article succeeds because it shows what filthy animals the Occupy protesters are, but also gives the badge lickers and uniform fetishists a tingle in their trousers.
Here’s more clickbait to structure the narrative:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/11/02/1032550/-Chicago-Board-of-Trade-Dumps-McDonalds-Employment-Applications-on-Occupy-Chicago-Protesters
And a template for posting comments to online articles:
“Those occupiers need to occupy a shower and go get a job!”
Is he related to Cantor-Fitzgerald?
Cantor’s loss in Tuesday’s Republican primary puts a big hole in Wall Street’s Washington Rolodex.
They’ll replace him with another stooge.
I think companies should increase stock buybacks to keep GDP growth rolling along.
Well, there is no point in investing in more factories in China as American consumers are broke.
Bigger and bigger government with more and more regulations and higher and higher taxes will leads us to prosperity…
—————–
The Lose-Lose Tax Policy Driving Away U.S. Business
The Wall Street Journal - Michelle Hanlon - 6/12/2014
Apple issued $12 billion of U.S. debt in April, which gave the company a domestic cash infusion that allowed it to keep more earnings overseas. Last month Pfizer attempted to acquire AstraZeneca, a transaction that would have made Pfizer a subsidiary of the U.K.-based company. These were useful examples in the taxation classes I teach at MIT’s business school, but the real-world implications of these decisions are troubling. Even worse, legislators have responded with proposals that seek to prevent companies from escaping the U.S. tax system.
The U.S. corporate statutory tax rate is one of the highest in the world at 35%. In addition, the U.S. has a world-wide tax system under which profits earned abroad face U.S. taxation when brought back to America. The other G-7 countries, however, all have some form of a territorial tax system that imposes little or no tax on repatriated earnings.
To compete with foreign-based companies that have lower tax burdens, U.S. corporations have developed do-it-yourself territorial tax strategies. They accumulate foreign earnings rather than repatriate the earnings and pay the U.S. taxes. This lowers a company’s tax burden, but it imposes other costs.
For example, U.S. corporations hold more than $2 trillion in unremitted foreign earnings, a substantial portion of which is in cash. This is cash that currently can’t be reinvested in the U.S. or given to shareholders. As a consequence, companies are borrowing more in the U.S. to fund domestic operations and pay dividends. Another potential effect is that companies invest the earnings in foreign locations.
In short, our international tax policy encourages U.S. multinational corporations to keep cash abroad, borrow more in the U.S. and invest more in foreign locations than they otherwise would. Everyone loses: The U.S. government gets little if any tax revenue from the foreign earnings, and shareholders and the U.S. economy are deprived of valuable resources.
“to prevent companies from escaping the U.S. tax system…”
Kinda says it all doesn’t it?
cash - physical - green (well…blue now, at least $100 bills).
Municipal bonds
Gold - preferably tenth ounce increments and quarter ounce increments - physical of course, in your possession.
Platinum - preferably tenth ounce increments and quarter ounce increments - physical of course, in your possession.
Silver
Palladium
Crypto currency. It pays also to have a cryptography and computer security background to take advantage of it.
“No Place to Hide” by Greenwald - has some key hints on how to secure your computer-based files.
Bordeaux wines as a collection - investor grade - because if you cannot sell it you can at least enjoy it while we head into drab gray statism.
Ammo - obvious reasons. All sizes
guns - 12 gauge, AR-15’s, 45’s, 9mm’s etc.
spark plugs, air filters, etc for the most popular sold cars in the USA
And a place to put it all. You do NOT have to “own” that place and can rent it!!!!!!
Consulting gigs
Obama: “The World Is Less Violent Than It Has Ever Been”
Real Clear Politics | June 12, 2014 | No Attribution
At a White House event on Wednesday where he took questions from Tumblr users, President Obama addressed what he will be doing 10 years from now.
THE PRESIDENT: “The world is less violent than it has ever been. It is healthier than it has ever been. It is more tolerant than it has ever been. It is better fed then it’s ever been. It is more educated than it’s ever been”
Obama is more arrogant and delusional than he ever has been.
AQ is on the run, Osama is dead and the Iraq war is over…
Mission accomplished.
there should be a law passed requiring all americans to buy stock in american companies. If you do not buy you pay a fee to the FED’s PPT fund.
Negative interest rates will do just that…
There will be a tax imposed on anyone who does not save at least 10% of their income in a retirement fund, does not pay at least 50% of their income in mortgage payments each month, and does not pay at least 10% of their income on student loans. The car-payment tax will come later.
So why are you a statist?
Just to piss you off, mainly.
The VA scandal
Bergdahl traitor swap mess
Orchestrated illegal children backfire
Iraq in flames.
Hmm
You ain’t seen nothing yet.
Eric Holder has a Waco up his sleeve that will make the gassed and burnt corpses of the women and children Branch Davidians smell like a freshly baked apple pie.
Because statists gonna state…
Holder
Hmmm… if he does that it could cost the Dems the White House in 2016. Unless of course Obama declares martial law or something. I remember when some thought Bubba was gonna do that.
LOL
article discusses the statist strategy, with a little help from ‘real journalists’
http://www.infowars.com/is-a-second-american-revolution-now-inevitable/
12 Numbers About The Global Financial Ponzi Scheme That Should Be Burned Into Your Brain
by Michael Snyder | Economic Collapse | June 12, 2014
The numbers that you are about to see are likely to shock you. They prove that the global financial Ponzi scheme is far more extensive than most people would ever dare to imagine. As you will see below, the total amount of debt in the world is now more than three times greater than global GDP. In other words, you could take every single good and service produced on the entire planet this year, next year and the year after that and it still would not be enough to pay off all the debt. But even that number pales in comparison to the exposure that big global banks have to derivatives contracts. It is hard to put into words how reckless they have been. At the low end of the estimates, the total exposure that global banks have to derivatives contracts is 710 trillion dollars. That is an amount of money that is almost unimaginable. And the reality of the matter is that there is really not all that much actual “money” in circulation today. In fact, as you will read about below, there is only a little bit more than a trillion dollars of U.S. currency that you can actually hold in your hands in existence. If we all went out and tried to close our bank accounts and investment portfolios all at once, that would create a major league crisis. The truth is that our financial system is little more than a giant pyramid scheme that is based on debt and paper promises. It is literally a miracle that it has survived for so long without collapsing already.
When Americans think about the financial crisis that we are facing, the largest number that they usually can think of is the size of the U.S. national debt. And at over 17 trillion dollars, it truly is massive. But it is actually the 2nd-smallest number on the list below. The following are 12 numbers about the global financial Ponzi scheme that should be burned into your brain…
-$1,280,000,000,000 - Most people are really surprised when they hear this number. Right now, there is only 1.28 trillion dollars worth of U.S. currency floating around out there.
-$17,555,165,805,212.27 - This is the size of the U.S. national debt. It has grown by more than 10 trillion dollars over the past ten years.
-$32,000,000,000,000 - This is the total amount of money that the global elite have stashed in offshore banks (that we know about).
-$48,611,684,000,000 - This is the total exposure that Goldman Sachs has to derivatives contracts.
-$59,398,590,000,000 - This is the total amount of debt (government, corporate, consumer, etc.) in the U.S. financial system. 40 years ago, this number was just a little bit above 2 trillion dollars.
-$70,088,625,000,000 - This is the total exposure that JPMorgan Chase has to derivatives contracts.
-$71,830,000,000,000 - This is the approximate size of the GDP of the entire world.
-$75,000,000,000,000 - This is approximately the total exposure that German banking giant Deutsche Bank has to derivatives contracts.
-$100,000,000,000,000 - This is the total amount of government debt in the entire world. This amount has grown by $30 trillion just since mid-2007.
-$223,300,000,000,000 - This is the approximate size of the total amount of debt in the entire world.
-$236,637,271,000,000 - According to the U.S. government, this is the total exposure that the top 25 banks in the United States have to derivatives contracts. But those banks only have total assets of about 9.4 trillion dollars combined. In other words, the exposure of our largest banks to derivatives outweighs their total assets by a ratio of about 25 to 1.
-$710,000,000,000,000 to $1,500,000,000,000,000 - The estimates of the total notional value of all global derivatives contracts generally fall within this range. At the high end of the range, the ratio of derivatives exposure to global GDP is about 21 to 1.
Most people tend to assume that the “authorities” have fixed whatever caused the financial world to almost end back in 2008, but that is not the case at all.
In fact, the total amount of government debt around the globe has grown by about 40 percent since then, and the “too big to fail banks” have collectively gotten 37 percent larger since then.
Our “authorities” didn’t fix anything. All they did was reinflate the bubble and kick the can down the road for a little while.
I don’t know how anyone can take an honest look at the numbers and not come to the conclusion that this is completely and totally unsustainable.
How much debt can the global financial system take before it utterly collapses?
How recklessly can the big banks behave before the house of cards that they have constructed implodes underneath them?
For the moment, everything seems fine. Stock markets around the world have been setting record highs and credit is flowing like wine.
But at some point a day of reckoning is coming, and when it arrives it is going to be the most painful financial crisis the world has ever seen.
If you plan on getting ready before it strikes, now is the time to do so.
$223,300,000,000,000 - This is the approximate size of the total amount of debt in the entire world.
That’s about $35K for every adult and child on the planet.
It ain’t gonna get paid back, but that’s not what the Banking Clan wants. They want the world to be in debt to collect interest (ask Mr. Banker).
At say 3% interest that’s about $1000 per head per year. That isn’t much in a first world country, but in the third world that is crushing.
Now imagine if it was 10% interest. Total interest payments would be about 1/3 of global GDP.
Mr. Banker wants to get paid back, and I want to figure out a way to turn Mr. Banker and his clan into dog food. Neither will happen.
Grads welcome student loan relief—but want more
Bo McMillan
19 Hours Ago CNBC
Recent grads cheered President Barack Obama’s student loan relief measures and even took his dose of tough love in stride.
Obama signed an executive order Tuesday that would allow millions of hard-up students to cap their monthly payments at 10 percent of their income as well as reducing payments for others.
“I think it’s great; I think it’s a step in the right direction,” said Peter Michalewski, a winter 2010 graduate of Bentley University. He currently owes more than $100,000 in student debt and is getting assistance from his parents to help make his loan payment every month.
Millennials currently pay an average of 12 percent of their income into student loans, according to a recent study. Student debt rose 10.5 percent, to $29,400, from 2011 to 2012.
Read More › Student loan problem an easy fix: Sen. Warren
“I think that, really, people went to school for a job that does not currently employ,” said Torrieann Kennedy, who received a bachelor’s degree from Boston College in 2003 and a master’s degree from Walden University in 2006. Because of this, she continued, students and their parents are struggling to pay off heavy college debts.
“Anything that can help them, I think, is an awesome plan,” she said.
Read More › What will it take to get grads off the couch?
Lee Storrow, a 2011 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, emphasized that the burden of student loans is having a real effect on the economy.
“Students are having to make economic choices that are hampering the economic recovery of this country,” Storrow said. “I have friends that are deferring purchases of new homes because of the staggering amount of student loan debt they have to repay.”
After signing the relief measure, Obama took to Tumblr for a live Q&A session.
He acknowledged the burden student loans pose for many, but also told students that the real world isn’t just about “following their bliss.”
Read More › Crushing student debt stalls housing: Ex-FHA head
“Sometimes you are going to have to take a job to pay the bills,” he said, urging them to study fields, such as the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) ones, with more abundant job opportunities.
That may be a bitter pill to swallow for some, but students appeared to take it well.
Read More › Grandparents are paying for college…again
“I think that’s realistic advice in today’s economy,” said Lee Storrow, a 2011 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “It’s important to do something professionally you’re passionate about, but it’s also important to do something that will allow you to pay for groceries and your bills.”
The president said it doesn’t mean you have to give up creativity completely, acknowledging that he himself was a humanities major.
“It doesn’t preclude you from writing a haiku at some point, or having a creative outlet,” Obama said.
While the theme in these student reactions was optimism, they clearly sent a signal that more needs to be done.
“I think this is Obama and the White House using the executive power that they have to make life better for many people with student loans, but it is going to take real congressional action to improve the situation,” Storrow said.
“I would ask him to continue to advocate for stronger policies to continue to help young people to manage student loan debt in the future.”
“I think it’s great; I think it’s a step in the right direction,” said Peter Michalewski, a winter 2010 graduate of Bentley University. He currently owes more than $100,000 in student debt and is getting assistance from his parents to help make his loan payment every month.’
You’re screwed Peter. Lowering the minimum payments is a scam the credit card industry figured out long ago.
Why not address the real problems; there aren’t jobs. And similar to housing, the reason it cost you $100k is because it’s easy, really easy, to get a loan to pay for it.
they will eventually forgive his student loan debt but at least the schools made some money and donated some cash.
‘Any other market with such varying default rates would feature borrowing rates that are varied to match more appropriately…Subsidies go to the wrong people: taxpayers (and high-performing students) subsidize loans to below-average schools, because students at these poor-performing schools are loading up on much more debt than they should take on, at interest rates too low for their high risk of default.’
“If students at schools with high default rates were forced to borrow at a true market price, their interest rates would be much higher,” says Cagney, and “that would be a good thing, because it would force those schools to lower their tuition prices.”
‘Right now the government, through such programs as Direct Loans, is happy to let students borrow tens of thousands of dollars, regardless of how likely that student can pay it back. Private lenders will offer up even more money. Students are saddled with debt they can never pay back, and the government knows this.’
La-de-dah! It’s only a trillion bucks.
at least tuition is high and admin and teachers get paid well.
Not dischargable in bankruptcy yet the lowest interest rate for a federally backed loan is 4.6% or so, and the IRS ready to take directly from your paycheck if you have are employed but don’t pay.
Yeah, the feds really want to slow that gravy train down.
Interest rates too low for the risk of default? There is no risk of default -only of delayed repayment.
And hey look at the top two mentioned with high default rates: Trade schools, rig repair and car repair respectively. So much for that line of bs about the ‘value’ of higher education.
Lincoln Technical Institute (30 percent), and Arizona Automotive Institute (42 percent).
Student loan default can mean:
•Your entire loan balance will be due in full, immediately.
•Collection fees can be added to your outstanding balance.
•Up to 15% of your paychecks can be taken.
•Your Social Security, disability income, and state and federal tax refunds can be seized.
•Outstanding fees and unpaid interest can be capitalized (added) onto your principal balance.
if you dont have anything you can carry the loan to the grave.
I think they should extend the repayment period to 50 years, that will make college more affordable.
It’s laughable that people think making student debt less painful does anything but drive up the price of college.
Why not address the real problems; there aren’t jobs. And similar to housing, the reason it cost you $100k is because it’s easy, really easy, to get a loan to pay for it.
I don’t get it. My son is going to a state U and it costs $5000 a year (still too expensive if you ask me). Why do these other kids go to super expensive private schools they can’t afford? Is it because they can’t get into State?
One thing to keep in mind in this discussion is that tuition and fees only cover, on average, about the half the cost at a state university. The taxpayers of the state pay for the the other half.
Not at my kid’s school. The state only chips in about $2000 a year. He does have a school merit scholarship ($2000 a year) which brings it down from 7K to 5K.
For a really good deal, Mesa State in Grand Junction is tuition free for kids with good GPAs and SAT/ACT scores (85th percentile). Of course had my son gone there we would have been stuck with room and board costs.
“One thing to keep in mind in this discussion is that tuition and fees only cover, on average, about the half the cost at a state university. The taxpayers of the state pay for the the other half.”
And what percentage does the federal and state governments kick-in? What’s the anticipated return on investment?
And what percentage does the federal and state governments kick-in? What’s the anticipated return on investment?
I saw a pie chart for my son’s school’s funding sources. IIRC federal funding was less than 10%.
State funding has been shriveling up, in part because of TABOR. By law, the schools need permission from the legislature and the governor for tuition increases over 9%. There is a bill to lower that cap to 6%.
How does the school cope? By not wasting money, especially on bloated bureaucracies.
That does sound pretty efficient. I though that I heard that Arizona spends $7,000 per student per year at its state universities. I’ll have to look that up.
Actually, given that $5000 price that you mentioned, the taxpayers probably pay more than half in your state.
His school is a land grant school and amazingly runs on a tight budget. State government support is so meager here that Colorado State U has been thinking about going private.
The correct policy is to stop guaranteeing student loans. That would reduce the amount that banks are willing to lend for degrees that don’t pay much.
The guarantee was thought to be necessary to convince banks to lend large sums to teenagers. You also might not know that borrowers have to pay a guarantee fee, which is like an insurance payment levied on all borrowers to pay for those that default.
And this arrangement has resulted in obscenely high tuition.
It’s hard to say that that’s the case. Something that’s really mushroomed in the last couple of decades is the private student loan market. If the current federal student loan programs hadn’t been introduced in the ’50s and ’60s, it’s possible that private loans would have started back then and had the same effect in pushing up tuition.
And this arrangement has resulted in obscenely high tuition.
I found it interesting that the new head of HUD places so much focus on inflating house prices. Higher house prices = more debt for the populace = de facto income reduction = economic stagnation. One would think at some point, the PTB would be forced to perhaps, maybe allow that affordability might have something to do with lower prices…? Nahhh… the emperor’s clothes remain stunning.
However, pushing high house prices and associated high debt is a trickle up policy which keeps the big donors happy. So far it has kept the politicians in office. Until of course, Cantor.
Shaun Donovan on confronting hurricanes, homelessness and big banks
By Dina ElBoghdady
June 11 at 4:17 PM
Washington Post
Donovan: The settlement delivered not just what we promised the president but far more. It held financial institutions accountable for their actions, and it also delivered more than $50 billion in assistance to homeowners and communities when we expected it to deliver $35 billion. [ed. note: which was funneled right back to Wall Street]
WAPO: The housing market’s recovery has sputtered this year. What can the administration do to help the market get back on track?
Donovan: We have to remember that we were facing the worst housing crisis of our lifetimes 5 ½ years ago, and that we’ve made real progress that’s made a difference for families who were about to lose their homes, and added trillions of dollars in housing wealth for people who lost equity in their homes. It’s important to put that in context. On the question of what more can we do, I think housing finance reform is the single most important thing we can do in the short run to accelerate the recovery and provide more affordable housing. [ed. note: His use of language is Orwellian.]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/06/11/why-hud-secretary-shaun-donovan-got-a-big-hug-from-the-president/
The New Dumping Grounds
The administration quietly redistributes illegal aliens through military bases.
By Michelle Malkin
June 11, 2014 12:00 AM
A source tipped me off last week to a curious occurrence: It seems that two planeloads of illegal aliens were recently shipped to Massachusetts. The first reportedly landed at Hanscom Air Force Base in Bedford. According to my tipster, approximately 160 illegal immigrants arrived on that flight and stayed nearly a week before being transferred to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) site and then released.
The second flight reportedly was diverted from Hanscom to Boston’s Logan Airport this past weekend. I am told that both Massachusetts and New Hampshire officials were on hand. I reached out to Hanscom AFB for confirmation but did not receive a call back by my deadline.
Question: How many other military bases are stealthily being used to redistribute, house, process, and release illegal border crossers?
What we do know for sure is that the Obama administration already has converted several other military bases across the country into outposts for tens of thousands of illegal aliens from Central and South America.
Another source, working in the Border Patrol in south Texas, tells me: “Our station, along with every other station, is flooded with women and small children. One lady yesterday had a baby as young as eight months. And they’re coming over with pink eye and scabies. So getting them medically cleared becomes a priority. They’ll be here for almost a week, so we provide them with formula and diapers. We have a catering service contracted to feed them because it’s too many for us to feed on our own. And of course, they end up being released because every family housing facility is full. They’re supposed to show up for immigration court at a later date, but they don’t.”
Same old, same old. I’ve reported for years on the feds’ catch-and-release games and deportation Kabuki. The “notice to appear” letters — known as “run letters” — are a notorious joke in open-borders circles.
The latest “crisis” is a wholly manufactured product of White House administrative amnesties, which are supported by a toxic alliance of ethnic-vote-seeking Democrats and cheap-labor-hungry big-business Republicans. The flood comes just as Obama’s DHS announced a two-year extension for beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. A whopping 560,000 illegal aliens have been granted amnesty under DACA and also have received employment authorization.
As I’ve said for two decades, illegal-alien amnesties guarantee two things: more illegal immigration and more Democratic voters. Now we have a White House forcing U.S. military bases to provide interminable benefits and services to illegal aliens for political gain, while said White House evades responsibility for allowing military veterans to die waiting for the most basic of medical services.
And where’s the GOP “leadership” in this country? Doing the bidding of the amnesty-loving U.S. Chamber of Commerce and demonizing Republican candidates at every level who are sick and tired of giving away the store and the country.
God save us from bipartisanship.
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/380076/new-dumping-grounds-michelle-malkin - 87k -
What I don’t get is if they’re going to do catch and release, why bother catching them? Why even bother having a border patrol?
And if you’re going to put them on a plane, why not just send them home to begin with?
That the GOP isn’t screaming bloody murder over this betrays their complicity.
What I don’t get is if they’re going to do catch and release, why bother catching them? Why even bother having a border patrol?
Keeps people employed and if you study history of government, that’s how government functions.
But releasing them displaces low skilled Americans, increasing unemployment, which I believe is the ultimate goal.
More problems mean more power for the government. It’s always been like that.
That the GOP isn’t screaming bloody murder over this betrays their complicity.
When they do - they are labelled as racists…
Do you have an example of that?
I am not GOP, and I am screaming bloody murder. Call me whatever you want. I am a renter, a Prius driver, an Arizonan, and many other things. I am invincible to the terms used to describe me.
Diseased illegals. LOVE IT!
How other countries treat illegal immigrants.
Even if they want to go back home…
—————–
Marine Imprisoned in Mexico: “Get Me Out of Jail”
Conservative Tribune | June 12 2014 | Conservative Tribune
After being rightfully raked over the coals for negotiating with terrorists for the release of a traitorous American soldier, President Obama proudly defended his actions by stating that the United States doesn’t leave a man behind.
Apparently that principle doesn’t apply to Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi.
Sgt. Tahmooressi has spent the last two months in a Mexican jail for making a wrong turn and crossing the border into Mexico. He has made several pleas for help that have fallen on deaf ears.
‘While he was at the La Mesa jail where he was first held he was tortured, brutalized and victimized,” said Mrs Tahmooressi.
‘He was stripped naked and chained to a bedpost. When they undid the chains he was so weak he could not walk. At one point he was shackled to a bed with a four point restraint. That is not right. No soldier, no person should have to endure that sort of treatment.’
If his commanding officer had any balls a mission would have been sent to free him. Instead we have cover-your-ass-until-retirement gutless wonders.
One guy is a prisoner of war. The other guy was convicted of breaking a law in Mexico on his personal time. I feel sorry for him, but it’s still not the same.
Yeah, I can’t see how people can confuse the two things.
I guess that this an argument in favor of building a giant wall on the border. It should cut down on the number of people who make a wrong turn and end up in Mexico.
Welcome back to 2007, folks. Everything is in a bubble, and the housing market is starting its meltdown. Ever wonder how things could be even MORE expensive than 2007 with lower paying jobs, and higher unemployment? Ask Janet Felon.
Forward
Yes we can
Hope and change
Osama is dead and GM is alive
Phoenix median wage: About $16.50/hr
Phoenix median house price: $200,000
No workie.
“Welcome back to 2007, folks.”
1. I wonder if they’ll roll out another “1st Time Home Buyer Tax Credit” like 2010.
2. How do we capitalize off of this Lahde-style? I’m hoping TxChik57 reappears.
I’m planning on investing more $$ with Ben’s fund when the recrash hits. I need moar returns.
Are house prices going down or not? I am getting impatient.
Impatience can be expensive.
So can patience, sadly.
Been there, doing that…
Be vewy vewy quiet, I’m twacking homegwown extweemists.
US Pushing Local Cops to Stay Mum on Surveillance
by Jack Gillum and Eileen Sullivan |
Associated Press | June 12, 2014
The Obama administration has been quietly advising local police not to disclose details about surveillance technology they are using to sweep up basic cellphone data from entire neighborhoods, The Associated Press has learned. Citing security reasons, the U.S. has intervened in routine state public records cases and criminal trials regarding use of the technology. This has resulted in police departments withholding materials or heavily censoring documents in rare instances when they disclose any about the purchase and use of such powerful surveillance equipment.
Federal involvement in local open records proceedings is unusual. It comes at a time when President Barack Obama has said he welcomes a debate on government surveillance and called for more transparency about spying in the wake of disclosures about classified federal surveillance programs.
Read more
While at the RSA conference in San Francisco earlier this year I signed up for freebies and of course get spammed. Today out of boredom I decided to read some of the back spam newsletters about information security.
NSA developed some algorithm, dual elliptical curve, and encouraged RSA to use it 10 years ago in its products. Someone found a security flaw in it. NY Times first published this and said it was an intentional flaw. RSA scrambled and told its partners and customersin late 2013 not to use its tools that had that algorithm. RSA tools used this algorithm since 2004. NSA used its own influence to get the algorithm added to NIST. So for 9 years this was possibly being used.
http://www.wired.com/2013/09/rsa-advisory-nsa-algorithm/
Rumors are that RSA was given $10 million from NSA to use the algorithm. RSA denies:
http://www.zdnet.com/rsa-denies-taking-10m-from-nsa-to-default-backdoored-algorithm-7000024591/
What Really Happened Radio Show: Michael Rivero Wednesday …
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFPnz6cNSgU - 145k - Cached - Similar pages
21 hours ago …
full moon falls on friday the 13th tonight, be safe out there hbb…
And I have to give a presentation that day. Scary.
Vill be great.
I will stay in my bunker this evening
I think the moon is full right now.
Had to throw away dinner scrapings, made it to the dumpster, my mailbox, then back with no mishap. Safely inside and now ready for another glass of red Bordeaux…But vigilant behind this glass of vino, all the same…
At least some other country gets it…
“Peru to relax environmental rules to spur economic growth - govt
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/13/peru-economy-environment-idUSL2N0OT26D20140613?feedType=RSS&feedName=marketsNews
Any comments on the latest realtor(r) ad showing “weenie, weak hesitant husband”:
http://www.ispot.tv/ad/7nsd/national-association-of-realtors-sold
Pay close attention to precisely what the woman says, “I really like it… I think we should call a realtor(r) and make an offer…” (note that she doesn’t pause to ask her husband’s input).
She did wait for his input. You misinterpreted the commercial. During the two seconds that they were looking at each other, someone else came along and bought the house. Then they decided to buy a different house right away, with a different realtoR. They are pimping “low inventory”.
Palladium supposedly at a 3 year high. And pundits are saying “buy!”
But it’s a 3 year high. Gold is far below its 2011 $1900 high.
What to do, what to do, what to do?
Well I put on my “Bill, Just South of Irvine” hat and I stay the course for now. Out of my gold-buying funds - italicized for…EMPHASIS, I buy mostly gold. PGMs are stackable and I recommend buying them but with palladium at a 3 year high, gold can come charging back and push beyond $2,000 in short order.
Italics end should have been before the word “italicized” (groan).