http://jewishworldreview.com/cols/will041308.php3
April 13, 2008 8 Nissan 5768
Horrors of a ‘Crisis’
By George Will
...
The standard definition of a recession — two consecutive quarters of contraction — means we still are probably several months short of being in one. The 9.9 percent first-quarter decline of the Standard & Poor 500 barely ranks among the 40 worst quarterly losses in the index's history. Leave aside the 39.4 percent decline in the second quarter of 1932. The economy experienced no long-term trauma because of the declines of 10.3 percent, 14.5 percent and 23.2 percent in the third quarter of 1998, the third quarter of 1990 and the fourth quarter of 1987, respectively.
Yes, in January single-family homes in major metropolitan areas lost 10.7 percent of their value from last January. To find such a large decline in a year you must peer back into the mists of prehistory, all the way back to . . . the 1990s. Furthermore, the vast majority of homeowners will remain well ahead, even after the market corrects for housing inflation.
By one measure, between the beginning of 2000 and the middle of 2006, as the consumer price index was rising 21 percent, average housing prices rose 93 percent — and much more in some markets (Miami, 180 percent; Los Angeles, 175 percent; Washington, D.C., 150 percent).
Not long ago there was broad agreement that too much of Americans' wealth was tied up in the nation's housing stock and that the principal impediment to homeownership was not a scarcity of cheap mortgages but the prevalence of high housing prices. Hence deflation of housing prices would be desirable.
So far during this "crisis," the homeownership rate has declined just three-tenths of 1 percent since it peaked in 2004. At 67.8 percent, it remains higher than it was when President Bill Clinton left office.
Subprime mortgages are a small minority of mortgages, and only a minority of subprime borrowers are not making their payments. Casting this minority of a minority as victims of "predatory" lending fits the liberal narrative that most Americans are victims of this or that sinister elite or impersonal force and are not competent to cope with life's complexities without government supervision.
The politics of this may, however, be more complex than the compassion chorus supposes. The 96 percent of mortgage borrowers who are fulfilling their commitments, often by scrimping, may be grumpy bystanders if many of the other 4 percent — those who found the phrase "variable rate" impenetrably mysterious — are eligible for ameliorations of their obligations.
What next? Adults still burdened with student loans have not yet announced their entitlement to relief, but as they watch this subprime drama, they might.
Originally posted by zeeblebotOoh! Good idea!
http://jewishworldreview.com/cols/will041308.php3
April 13, 2008 8 Nissan 5768
Horrors of a ‘Crisis’
By George Will
...
The standard definition of a recession — two consecutive quarters of contraction — means we still are probably several months short of being in one. The 9.9 percent first-quarter decline of the Standard & Poor 500 barely r ...[text shortened]... ounced their entitlement to relief, but as they watch this subprime drama, they might.
Originally posted by zeeblebotWhat is the standard definition for a depression? I think it is a given the US is in a recession but where do you draw the line in regards to being in a depression?
http://jewishworldreview.com/cols/will041308.php3
April 13, 2008 8 Nissan 5768
Horrors of a ‘Crisis’
By George Will
...
The standard definition of a recession — two consecutive quarters of contraction — means we still are probably several months short of being in one. The 9.9 percent first-quarter decline of the Standard & Poor 500 barely r ounced their entitlement to relief, but as they watch this subprime drama, they might.
Originally posted by whodeyDepression? You're reaching. The Democrats might think it's 1929, but we're far from soup kitchens and "Brother, can you spare a dime?"
What is the standard definition for a depression? I think it is a given the US is in a recession but where do you draw the line in regards to being in a depression?
Originally posted by der schwarze RitterFunny you should say that. Because there were some studies back in 2003 and....
Depression? You're reaching. The Democrats might think it's 1929, but we're far from soup kitchens and "Brother, can you spare a dime?"
"...findings from both studies suggested that in 2000, the top 1 percent had the largest share of the nation's total after-tax income since at least 1936 and probably since 1929."
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C03E6D8143DF936A1575AC0A9659C8B63
Wow, and I just got asked to be a teacher. Guess people with science and math degrees get to slip through the "recession" cracks by going into teaching. The principal told me there's almost no competition; nobody wants to get the science/math degree and then teach.
It's not that the opportunity's not out there...
You're lucky we chicanos will do the work the rest of you Americans are too good for! Like teaching your children about subatomic particles.
And if the government didn't meddle I'd probably be able to buy a house with my new income. But no, the government needs to keep prices high for the benefit of those who got houses in the last recession (like some of my friends).
notice the difference between the headline and the lead paragraph:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7357998.stm
World recession 'worst since 70s'
Singapore's cash has bailed out cash-strapped Western banks recently
Singapore's investment agency GIC has warned that the world is in danger of sinking into the worst recession in 30 years if swift action is not taken.