An Unbelievable Money Machine

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "Maybe it’s the strength of the loonie, the increasing value of their principal residences or the lure of still deeply discounted housing, but Canadians love the United States — especially the Sun Belt — where we remain the No. 1 foreign buyer of...
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Some Reality After Years Of Inflated Prices

The Comox Valley Local News reports from Canada. "Vancouver Island Regional Assessor, Bill MacGougan, encourages property owners to open their assessments and take a close look: 'Property owners, they're always interested in how the value of their biggest asset is holding up and from that...
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Predictions For The New Year

What are your predictions for the coming year? Here's some from one year ago. "It will be another year spent trying to find out how much debt governments can rack up without causing economic collapse. Another year spent trying to protect flawed debt markets which make so much money for politicians...
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A Large Number Of Sellers-In-Waiting

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "Herbert Crockett, a retired human resources director, said he bought a $904,000 hotel-condominium suite at the Trump International Hotel & Tower, Toronto, attracted by a presentation that showed he could make as much as 27% a year on his investment....
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Speculators Overdoing A Spending Spree

The Los Angeles Times reports from California. "The California housing recovery boomed forward in November, with home prices reaching levels high enough to trigger questions about whether speculators are overdoing a spending spree. The run-up in prices caught the attention of Dean Baker,...
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What Now Seems Unwise Could Be Rationalized Then

Readers suggested a topic on policy responses to recessions. "It seems to be an article of faith amongst many that if we had just ‘let it all fall’, then we’d be done with this economic crisis, or at least a lot further along, with less money spent, and moving on in a better direction. I’m curious...
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