REal broker

Next Up, an Ownership Share in Banks

There is such a thing as "doing the right thing"! There is no way in h*ll AIG has a any reason to "party" right now. The rationale of oh gee since the Insurance Group is doing well, there is no reason to punish them for what the Financial Services side of AIG did is absolute definition of arrogance on steroids. Your company just took $85,000,000,000.00 from the American people and had a nice little party, then came back and took another $34,500,000,000.00... simple decency and and self respect would suggest that maybe cancelling the "party" would be prudent in a time of crisis. Or do I have it wrong, it's a crisis for everyone else but you?!

You know what is coming next, dont' you! A big sh*t load of govt. regulations, and you will have only yourselves to blame.

I'm a big believer in capitalism, and now because of the unrepentant arrogance of a a relative few, we all have to endure the rath of Socialism.

The Global Economy: Is Deflation the Next Macro Story?

The lack of supply is not the problem. America has positioned itself as the end consumer for the world. Demand is falling everywhere because their economy(s) are overly invested in the American economy. As we go, they go! We would have to create many more Trillions to inject into the economy to create any more inflation, and to do so would only delay the innevitable, a prolonged deflation. You can only monetize debt for so long until it becomes mathematically and even theorectically impossible to make good on your promises. Maybe next time we will be more responsible.

Common Sense: My Solution to the Mortgage Crisis

How is this for a common sense approach to the mortgage crisis. All new mortgages cannot under any circumstances exceed 80% of appraised value. If homeownership is to be treated as a sacred cow in our society, it should not be allowed to be used like an ATM.

Next time (if ever) Americans have the opportunity to access cheap money, maybe we will remember how we screwed ourselves up, and look for income producing (manufacturing/export) opportunities that generate income instead of just pissing it away buying cheap foreign goods.

C.Grattan
mfi-miami.com

The Secret Villain Behind Our Economic Collapse

But ocifer...I only had a couple of beers!

I hope we can get past the finger pointing and blame game, learn our lesson (about ourselves), make the neccesary (not over reacting) adjustments, and get back to living a healtier and more responsible lifestyle.

Cheers!

Bailouts: Misunderstanding the Moral Hazard

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Bailouts: Misunderstanding the Moral Hazard

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Bailouts: Misunderstanding the Moral Hazard

This issue of a "moral hazard" needs to be put in its proper perspective. America is built on the blood, sweat, and tears of its aprox. 300 million citizens. We have been a great society at times when we all contribute 110% of what we have based on our skills, blessings, and talents . The very reason this country has existed for so long is the moral bond that up to this point transcended our political and social differences. When this country is truely threatened we bond together to eliminate the threat, and move on. Even though we have great differences in our polical and social beliefs, we recognize that preserving this country in times of crisis is our prime directive. Once we have eliminated the crisis, we go back to our "regularly scheduled programming" of argueing and disagreeing about all the things we normally fight over.

The problem with this "bailout" as proposed by Wall Street is that it looks like they are BAILing OUT on the rest of America, it appears they are saying see ya to the rest of this country who allowed them to be at the top of the food chain to ensure the financial security for all of America. The moral crisis now exists because for the last several years, a very large portion of the America has been experiencing a recession while Wall Street claims all is well, and in their view IF some parts of the country are in trouble, oh well, we are not socialists that's just the way capitalism works. Now the recession is knocking on their door, and all of a sudden, they want a socialist bailout. And to add fuel to fire Paulson arrogantly comes begging for a bailout, and then has the gaul to insist that if the bank execs. don't get the compensation they want, well then they just won't participate...RU kidding me??!!

It's bad enough for Wall Street to turn their backs on their America after initially profiting greatly from pushing their cocaine (ultra low starting interest rate mortgages) on credit addicted Americans, which created this crisis in the first place. But to turn their backs when America needs them to do there share and step up to the plate (by investing in America and not overseas in this time of crisis), and assume their share of the responsibility I find appalIing. I can hear the Wall Street types claiming that we are capitalists not socialists and as such, we can't be held responsible, that's just the markets. To that I say yes, we are a capitalist society, AND yes, by the moral bond of honor, decency, and of course mutual self preservation, have created a socialist safety net for ALL. If this is really a crisis that needs our immediate attention, I say united we stand, divided we fall! It's either that or take your greedy a*ses to another country, pull these same stunts over their, and we'll be watching CNN when they take your money and hang your a*ses in the middle of some town square. The rest of America will survive as we always do, maybe just barely, but survive just the same.

An Alternative Bailout Proposal

Dan,

I like the idea except, I do not trust govt. with the SS trust fund??

How about taking the $700B (and any other funds that will inevitably be approved for similar purposes) and dividing it equally into every tax payers retirement accounts (if you don't have a retirement account, get one). as it looks like the initial payout to the American tax payor(s) would be about $5,200.00 each. The(se) dollars MUST stay in American tax payor(s) retirement account(s), placed ONLY in American owned and operated banks, and can ONLY be invested (by the banks) in wholly owned and operated American company(s) that employ ONLY tax paying American citizens.

NOTE: We will have get used to being a manufacturing based economy again, that PRIMARILY NOT EXCLUSIVELY produces and consumes it's own products. Sorry this fantasy of not manufacturing anything and letting others do the low wage work (manufacturing) so we can indulge ourselves with low cost products, and in return we get to have only high paying hi-tech jobs, and provide the world economy with financial support services only, was an ill conceived fantasy has turned into our nightmare!

Under this plan we accomplish several goals.

First, we acknowlege that we need to get back to a balanced manufacturing/service based economy that really works.

Second, we acknowledge that we need to have more equity invested into our economy by saving and investing and not just spending every last penny we make on payday! This bailout money MUST only be used for investing in America, and not spent on crap we imported from other countries. Remember the $300.00 check we just got to spend any which way we want, we can't do that again!

Third, the banks get the liquidity they claim to need, and the tax payors get something to counteract the inflation we are about to create.

This is a very simple plan of manufacturing and consuming our own products, which will allow the service industry(s) to flourish, and for us to collectively and safely have the financial resources to provide for ourselves with the education and proper health care we desire.

The part of all this plan some Americans are NOT going to like is having to give up the "etitlement" attitude. This attitute and the politicians who pandered to it, along with the citizens who allowed it to flourish (which in one form or another is ALL of us), is the very core reason we are in this position. If we have the courage to let go of our fears and embrace our faith in society, we can and will overcome.

The ulternative is to continue down this path headlong into the financial and social ruin of our great nation, with the end result being poverty and suffering for all.

Consider all we have been through as a nation and look at the results of our decisions. Forget the politics, and let go of the blame.

The Unfortunate State of the Current Housing Market

Given the fact that America does not produce much of anything anymore, I expect unemployment to continue to grow. I've been in RE for over 30 years now, and can tell you that there are only 2 factors that effect price appreciation. First is rising income and then there is easy credit available. It will be a very long time (if ever) until you see either rising income or easy credit again. Also keep in mind we have more homes than people to fill them thanks to the glut in construction over the last several years. RE as an investment was WAY overbought over the last generation. Bottom line expect RE prices to fall MUCH more in the coming years, don't be surprised if you see home values at 1980 levels in the near future!!