rm

Sheila Bair - World's Worst Regulator - to Stay at FDIC

[fixing housing becomes a priority to stabilizing the broader economy... ]

How, exactly, do we "fix" housing?

Through "streamlined" modifications?

The "solution" that leads to a 58% default rate within 8 months?

Of course, with streamlining, they'll be doing even less due diligence than they do now.

Yeah, that'll fix things.

The Great American Ponzi Scheme (Part II)

[IF YOU REALLY WANT AN INDUSTRIAL BASE AND A COUNTRY THAT CAN ONCE AGAIN BUILD THINGS..STOP TELLING EVERY HIGH SCHOOL KID THEY NEED TO GO TO COLLEGE... Bring back shop class and trade schools!]

I agree. Little to no time seems to be spent discovering what kids are good at, where their strengths lie. All the focus seems to be meeting arbitrary competency scores. The trades are where "losers" are shunted (kids who don't get good grades).

Tradespeople are largely devalued. Listen, when my roof leaks, or the furnace dies, it's a damned valuable person who comes out to fix the mess. We could use some brighter people in those industries, people whose skills complement the work that needs to be done... not just the guys who couldn't cut it anywhere else.

Furthermore, I live in a northern client and I am shocked at how completely inefficient home design is. "Energy Star" ratings are a joke, and provide very little, marginal value. The design of homes needs a complete, fundamental overhaul with regards to energy efficiency.

The Housing Blame Game, Redux

[any one political party can amply choose to focus their blame on their rivals, while ignoring their own role in this mess]

Cheer up, Paul: the government is expanding its influence in other areas lately. There will be much more to debate and discuss going forward.

[we didn’t get into a historic mess overnight, or because of any one bad decision or company. It took a collection of actions, and a multitude of players, to create a mess of this magnitude;]

You've taken the fun right out of the debate. We've been conditioned to believe that there is ONE bad guy, one party who's chiefly to blame. We will not be satisfied until that culprit is found and lynched- literally or figuratively.

[the sooner we all recognize this truth, perhaps the sooner we can begin to address real solutions that will make a difference and help prevent us from ending up here again.]

Like most of our problems, we're all to blame, to some degree. But admitting that would force all of us to accept responsibility, and... we'd rather not. Thank you, though.

Also, regarding real solutions.. That's not terribly attractive to anyone involved in the debate. It removes a platform from which politicians can proselytize, pander, and raise money, it limits finger pointing, and it gives everyone one less thing to complain about...

then we'd have to revisit the same old issues we've been talking about and not doing anything about for years. New problems allow us to feel better about ourselves, because we're temporarily distracted from all the old problems we still haven't solved.