Patrick.net Forum Comments

On 28 May 2013 in Bailouts and False Hopes (redux), mondoqt said:
"The fault of easy money lies with the banks, not the borrowers. The banks are responsible and it is against the law to do what they did in offering reckless loans."

And the fault of drunk driving lies completely with liquor stores and bars, not the guzzlers who get behind the wheel...
On 12 Apr 2013 in Tween catches real estate agent stealing with web cam, mondoqt said:
Is that a piece of crushed cherry pie in the foreground of the photo? If so, how did Calandrella miss it? In general, news stories about real estate agents being caught rifling drawers seem to be on the rise. Damn those web-cams...
On 1 Apr 2013 in Realtor Undeterred By Ethical Issues In Advertising Self, mondoqt said:
Words Tracy might have understood: Listen bitch, pull the logo or Big Ed will visit your location location location...
On 8 Mar 2013 in Real estate agent caught on camera stealing women's underwear from homes, mondoqt said:
Moral of the story: There are a lot of crazy coots (and coot-ettes) out there in Realtor land just itching to go through your drawers.
On 4 Mar 2013 in The Housing Bubble and the Limits of Human Knowledge, mondoqt said:
An impressive litany of wishful thinking and stupidity from our leaders. Many of whom still hold power. A bunch of randomly selected chimps would serve us better. One of them might eventually type out a novel...
On 11 Feb 2013 in NYC Hopes to Address a Cramped Future With Tiny Apts, mondoqt said:
When Kevin says "NYC", he probably means Manhattan. But even in that rarefied environ there are still plenty of people with lives that wouldn't fit into a coffin.
On 1 Feb 2013 in Sparta Realtor Defrauded Bank, Prosecutor Says, mondoqt said:
Demetris Michalaki, one of the crooks cited in this article, has an extensive history of mortgage fraud. He also goes by the name of Dimitri or Jimmy Michalaki. His assorted companies (D&M Financial, D&M Mortgage, etc.) were players in New York and New Jersey during the housing bubble years. Michalaki and his affiliates were the target of numerous legal actions by lenders, individuals, and law enforcement agencies. The most notorious D&M connection was to the mortgage frauds perped in New York by Emmanuel "Toto" Constant, the former Haitian death squad leader turned real estate pro.

Interesting that Michalaki is now a fugitive. Also interesting that he's been up to his old tricks rather than hanging out in a jail cell. Interesting, but not surprising...
On 28 Jan 2013 in Tenants oppose more housing even when they know it would reduce rent, mondoqt said:
The real shame? By accepting-- and even touting-- substandard housing these sheeple help make it the norm.
On 17 Dec 2012 in Nightmare infrastructure of subdivision houses, mondoqt said:
Just for the record, Kunstler lives in a single family home on a 3 acre plot on the outskirts of a small town in rural, agricultural Washington County, New York. The minority population is almost non-existent. Shopping requires driving. Before moving to Washington County, Kunstler resided in pricey, snobbish Saratoga Springs. There are many cities (Albany, Troy, Schenectady) near Saratoga Springs that have extensive inner city neighborhoods in desperate need of revitalization. If Kunstler wanted to practice what he preaches, he could have relocated to any one of them.
On 16 Apr 2012 in Ben Bernanke & Mandy Rice-Davies, mondoqt said:
From The Economist, 03/18/10

It wasn't us: Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke still do not believe monetary policy bears any blame for the crisis
http://www.economist.com/node/15719180

'The desire to rescue a damaged reputation is a powerful motivator. That is one conclusion to draw from a new 48-page paper written for the Brookings Institution by Alan Greenspan, the 83-year-old former chairman of America’s Federal Reserve...The most combative section in Mr Greenspan’s paper—arguing that monetary policy in the early 2000s was not a cause of the housing bubble—is strikingly similar to a speech given by Mr Bernanke at the American Economics Association’s annual meeting in January...

There is something odd about central bankers denying any responsibility at all for long-term rates, which are, in principle, based partly on an assessment of a stream of short-term rates. Nor is it clear that low short-term rates were as irrelevant as Messrs Bernanke and Greenspan suggest. Jeremy Stein of Harvard University, a discussant of Mr Greenspan’s Brookings paper, points out that low policy rates may have mattered a great deal for income-constrained borrowers. He points out that adjustable-rate mortgages were used much more in expensive cities, a trend that became more pronounced as the fund rates fell.

By looking only at the effect of monetary policy on house prices, Messrs Bernanke and Greenspan also take too narrow a view of the potential effect of low policy rates. Several economists have argued convincingly, for instance, that low policy rates fueled broader leverage growth in securitised markets.

Monetary policy may be a blunt tool to deal with asset bubbles. But that does not mean it is irrelevant. Interestingly, one American central banker has a more nuanced view, arguing that “in the current episode, higher short-term interest rates probably would have restrained the demand for housing by raising mortgage interest rates…In addition, tighter monetary policy may be associated with reduced leverage and slower credit growth.” That was Janet Yellen, president of the San Francisco Fed, who is likely to be Mr Bernanke’s new vice-chairman. With luck, she will prompt her boss to have a rethink.'

(Janet Yellen did indeed become Vice Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, but has yet not prompted a Bernanke "rethink".)