The Fairness of Financial Rescue – Brad DeLong
What cannot be accepted are financial rescue operations that benefit the unworthy and cause losses to other important groups – like taxpayers and wage earners. And that, unfortunately, is the perception held by many nowadays, particularly in the United States.
It is easy to see why.
Let the Good Times Roll – New York Magazine
The transition from bear to bull was difficult for Grant, but before 2008 was over, he was recommending to his subscribers that they shop for bargains, including, yes, houses in Detroit.
Eurozone credit contraction accelerate – Telegraph, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
Bank loans and the M3 money supply in the eurozone contracted at an accelerating pace in November, raising the risk that a lending squeeze will choke the region’s fragile recovery next year.
Special Report: America’s route to recovery – Reuters
New York State Has First Deficit in General Fund – The New York Times
New York is about to achieve a dubious milestone: For the first time in history, the state’s main bank account is poised to end the year in the red.
Bankers Get $4 Trillion Gift From Barney Frank: David Reilly – Bloomberg
It authorizes Federal Reserve banks to provide as much as $4 trillion in emergency funding the next time Wall Street crashes. So much for “no-more-bailouts” talk. That is more than twice what the Fed pumped into markets this time around. The size of the fund makes the bribes in the Senate’s health-care bill look minuscule.
Economic Statistic of the Decade Award:Finalists – Mike Mandel
4) Finally, we come to U.S. household borrowing, which probably is the clearest reflection of the financial crisis. In this decade the U.S. household sector amped up its borrowing from $500 billion in 1999 to $1.2 trillion in 2006, before dramatically cutting debt in 2009.
Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims Decline – Calculated Risk
Market-based variables point to a mini boom in the new year – Larry Kudlow
In fact, it is coming back. In 2009, the stock market had one of its greatest rebounds in history. And in 2010, we’re likely to witness a mini boom in economic growth.
If you believe in miracles, as I do, this looks like a miracle. If you have faith in free-market capitalism, as I do, then somehow this faith is being rewarded by a more durable and resilient free-enterprise capitalism than many of us thought possible only one year ago.
Housing sales could shift in 2010 – The Orange County Register
2010 could be the year of the short sale.
The Year for Plan B – The Automatic Earth
Even before the Obama team took over, Christina Romer said, and with her many others, that governments were in uncharted waters. Ben Bernanke proclaimed that Quantitative Easing was a no-miss (even though it had never been tried), and Geithner declared in the house that he needed no Plan B in case the stimulus wouldn’t work. Their belief systems are easy to spot as just that, belief systems.
A Farewell to Equity… and to this Website – The Healdsburg Housing Bubble
While I’ve had some cordial conversations with Realtors, for the most part the reaction to this site has been negative. That was to be expected.
What I did not see coming was how first time buyers would generally react. I thought it would be a useful source of some facts/opinions regarding the risks of home ownership. But overall these facts/opinions have NOT been seen as a beneficial point of view to weigh when considering the purchase of a home. They’ve been viewed as an annoyance.
People want to buy a home, they want to have someone tell them it is the smartest decision they are making in their lives, and they don’t want to hear about any downside risk. In hindsight it makes sense. You are about to take on a load of debt that is 4, 5, 6 times or more your income for a 30 year time frame. Buying your first car for a couple thousand dollars is stressful. Buying your first home for a couple hundred thousand dollars is all the more so. You don’t want to hear that all that debt you are taking on could be a huge mistake that could ruin your life.
Home prices will continue to collapse ‘like a ponzi scheme’ -The Panic News
So you think just because housing prices are at all time lows that they are a good bargain today? Interest rates are low, prices are low, inflation is just around the corner so … now is the perfect time to buy, right?
Wrong, wrong, wrong, my friend! You need to know why…
2010: Walking away will gain cachet – Rolfe Winkler
Financial self-interest is likely to be contagious. A study by three economists suggests that when a few borrowers in a neighborhood just say no, others are likely to follow.
