This is it for me, at least for this chapter. I am off to join some people who don’t much appreciate voices singing out of key, and while they might be able to get over my public disdain for coaches who punt in opposing territory, it would be rather awkward to continue to point out [...]
Archive for the ‘Housing Crisis’ Category
The End of the Internet
Posted in Corruption, Education, Energy Policy, Health Care, Housing Crisis, Housing Policy, Industrial Policy, Inspirational, Labor Policy, Meltdown, Middle East, Miscellaneous, NAFTA, Obama, War on Terror on December 15, 2009 | 29 Comments »
Vegas, With Real Gambling
Posted in Architecture, Corruption, Foreigners, Housing Crisis, Meltdown, Middle East, Obama, Tim Geithner on November 30, 2009 | 1 Comment »
I am enjoying the goings-on in Dubai tremendously. It’s like the field mouse of an economics drug trial: take every extreme symptom, jam it into one place of absolutely no global consequence, and then try to figure out the cure. Suppose you had a tiny country that decided it wanted to be important. Playing on [...]
As Night Follows Day
Posted in Housing Crisis, Housing Policy on November 13, 2009 | 1 Comment »
If I may quote myself, from September 4: When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging. Except the Bernanke/Summers/Geithner team, who seem to believe you try to dig your way through to the other side of the earth. Call it the Martingale Strategy of government finance. Like every other problem gambler, this team is [...]
Spare the Rod
Posted in Domestic Policy, George W. Bush, Housing Crisis, Housing Policy, Industrial Policy, Labor Policy, Obama on October 20, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Two Russians, Ivan and Peter, struggle to survive in farm country. Eventually Ivan gets a goat. His life improves; he has milk and help with the grasses. A genie comes to Peter and says “I can grant you your deepest wish.” Peter is shocked. “You’re going to kill Ivan’s goat?” That was always the gallows [...]
Tell Us What You Really Want
Posted in Corruption, Housing Crisis, Housing Policy, Meltdown on October 1, 2009 | 4 Comments »
Courtesy of Mike Konczal at Rortybomb (itself a thoughtful compilation of a variety of articles, especially this one from Interfluidity), this gem from the Mortgage Bankers Association: The centerpiece of MBA’s recommendation is the creation of a new line of mortgage-backed securities (MBS). Each security would have two components – a loan level guarantee provided by [...]
Stop Digging
Posted in Housing Crisis, Housing Policy, Meltdown, Tim Geithner on September 4, 2009 | 13 Comments »
Courtesy of Calculated Risk, a fantastic example of the government’s inability to grasp the root cause of our economic woes: The Federal Housing Administration, hit by increasing mortgage-related losses, is in danger of seeing its reserves fall below the level demanded by Congress…”They’re probably going to need a bailout at some point because they’re making [...]
Killing Fannie
Posted in Corruption, Housing Crisis, Housing Policy on August 19, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Mike Konczal has been writing at Rortybomb and now Baseline about structural fixes to the housing market. I thought of his work when reading this Times article on the real estate appraisal business: On May 1, a sweeping change took effect that was meant to reduce the conflicts of interest in home appraisals while safeguarding [...]
Right to Rent?
Posted in Housing Crisis, Housing Policy, Meltdown on August 5, 2009 | 3 Comments »
Via Rortybomb, Dean Baker’s proposal in the Guardian to address foreclosures: In recognition of the extraordinary situation created by the housing bubble and its collapse, Congress could approve a temporary change to the rules governing the foreclosure process. This change would give homeowners facing foreclosure the right to stay in their homes, paying the market [...]
Control of the Narrative
Posted in Housing Crisis, Housing Policy, Meltdown on July 22, 2009 | 4 Comments »
On July 3, 1863, the Army of Northern Virginia was defeated at Gettysburg by the Army of the Potomac. As was fitting for a conflict in which each side simultaneously advocated the right of the minority to be free from the majority and the majority’s right to dominate the minority, the South attacked from the [...]
AIG Again
Posted in Corruption, Housing Crisis, Meltdown on July 10, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Michael Lewis has a piece in Vanity Fair that could as easily have been titled The Banality of Derivatives. Yet the A.I.G. F.P. traders left behind, much as they despise him personally, refuse to believe Cassano was engaged in any kind of fraud. The problem is that they knew him. And they believe that his [...]
