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Beware of the "Careful What You Wish For" crowd - The Bubble's implosion is good for working class people


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2008 Mar 7, 2:36am   14,174 views  150 comments

by HARM   ➕follow (0)   💰tip   ignore  

Is this really our future?

Lately, The Gloom-n-Doom here seems a bit thicker than normal, even for a grizzly bear such as myself.

Yes, pain from the HB implosion & MEW withdrawal is spreading well beyond REIC circles –as predicted here on this blog 3 years ago. No, the Insolvency Crisis is not *contained* (except to planet Earth) and it’s starting to unwind at an impressively accelerating rate. Hearing about mass layoffs, unemployment, dropping equity, and watching the DOW plunge is a little depressing, even scary, yes. But, let’s also keep a little perspective: It’s not the End of the World as We Know It. It’s not even unexpected.

One of the FUD tactics the pro-Bailout crowd is trying to use (Cramer, Tan-man, etc.) is “Be Careful What You Wish For!”. They want us to think that if they and their buddies incur any serious losses, it’s Financial Armaggeddon for Everyone and will plunge us into a new Great Depression. There will be pain, yes. But, is the macroeconomic danger already so great that we *have to* socialize all losses right now, before we even know how bad it might get? Is a Mad Max future really inevitable, just because some well-connected banksters and hedgies blow up (due to their own reckless actions)?

To me, this is really just another way for them to try to convince us and CON-gress that we need to share the bill for their recklessness and greed. Let’s not succumb to it so easily.

HARM

#bubbles

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57   DinOR   2008 Mar 7, 5:19am  

kewp,

I agree, a lot of goods/services probably WERE being paid for w/ bubble-bucks. Then again, so many of their competitors wouldn't even BE around had it not been for the easy financing bubble-bucks offered?

Even among the realtors the common refrain was "You just wouldn't believe how many new agents there are!" In fact I believe that while NAR commissions peaked at around $60 bil. in 2005 (avg. realtor income went down)

Can someone get Ayn Rand to bake a damn pie already!

58   FuzzyMath   2008 Mar 7, 5:20am  

"A real estate crash with a side-order of credit-deflationary collapse is not the end of the world"

you keep saying that SP. Want to go into some of the reason why it's not? We've seen some pretty drastic results across the board just from the small contraction that's happened so far. Even conservative estimates don't even put us 1/4 of the way to where it's headed.

I'm not claiming I know. Just interested in the "it's not that bad" opinion, because I'm just not seeing it.

59   FuzzyMath   2008 Mar 7, 5:21am  

And NO, I do NOT want a f&$% bailout.

60   northernvirginiarenter   2008 Mar 7, 5:21am  

I was in deep meditation trying to get “in touch” with how I felt about all of this

lol. Well done.

61   DinOR   2008 Mar 7, 5:23am  

Headset,

I'm sure Clinton probably didn't care? It was always fairly easy for him to simply say that Hawks ran up the defense bill and it wasn't his doing. (Others weren't ready to let the topic die that easily). One way or another we worked our way through it just like we'll work our way through this mess.

Back to meditation! Uhmmm.... Uhmmm..

62   StuckInBA   2008 Mar 7, 5:25am  

BayAreaIdiot :

:-) OK. I understand about Gilroy. But wasn't Evergreen going to be the next Cupertino ? Are we still on that plan or has anything changed ?

63   HARM   2008 Mar 7, 5:29am  

“Great Depression of 1990″ by Ravi Batra

“Bankruptcy 1995: The Coming Collapse of America and How to Stop It” by Harry E. Figgie and Gerald J. Swanson

Excellent examples - I used to own Batra's book, and yeah, it was about as good a predictive tool as Dow 36,000.

The world is *not* coming to an end just because some well connected rich guys made some big, bad bets and are losing money as a result. It's also not coming to an end just bause Joe Howmuchamonth can no longer bid up the price of basic shelter to insane heights and fill up his new 3-car garage with Chinese made crap. Far from it.

64   HARM   2008 Mar 7, 5:33am  

I care about total meltdown because I know that peace and stability brings greater contentment and happiness to a larger measure of humanity. In a total financial meltdown and collaspe, violence and suffering will occur on a grand scale.

I view this as something of a false dichotomy (e.g., "Either we keep spending or the terrorists win."). I do not believe we have to choose between economic Armaggedon OR maintaining the status quo. I also do not believe that hitting the "reset" button on our (hopelessly corrupt, dysfunctional, cheap credit-addicted) financial system necessarily means extreme pain for everyone. That is the whole point of this thread.

We have other options, people.

65   DinOR   2008 Mar 7, 5:34am  

Remember though, Figgie was from an entirely different era of businessman. One of the most profound experiences of his young life was as a G.I in post-war Germany watching housewives use a wheel barrow to have enough money to buy a loaf of bread.

That impression is bound to stay with a guy. Harry was just a guy that loved his country and didn't want to see that happen here.

66   HeadSet   2008 Mar 7, 5:38am  

G.I in post-war Germany watching housewives use a wheel barrow to have enough money to buy a loaf of bread.

You may want to check your dates. The "wheelbarrow" was pre-war, not post war, Germany.

67   FormerAptBroker   2008 Mar 7, 5:40am  

SP Says:

> So, why is a real-estate crash my problem?

Then northernvirginiarenter Says:

> Its not unreasonable to assume that violent crime
> will skyrocket.

Crime always goes up in every economic downturn.

> It matters to you because your daughter could
> be raped walking home from the market,

You just need to stay away from the markets in bad areas since more women are hit by lightning each year than are raped outside Whole Foods stores in yuppie neighborhoods…

> your neighbors foreclosure turned into a violent
> crack house,

If you live in a neighborhood where people don’t smoke crack you have nothing to worry about (it will be a cold day in hell before a crack house opens near me in Presidio Heights or near my parents in Hillsborough)…

> your assets could inflate away to nothing, whatever
> “vehicle” your savings are in are not as safe as you
> may think.

Every day one asset class will either out perform or under perform the market so if you diversify you will be fine (cash and stocks have lost value this year but commodities and rents are up this year)…

> Civil liberties? Freedom? Good luck with that. You may
> not even have access to patrick anymore due to the
> spread of insidious ideas there.

My liberal friends always complain about the loss of “Civil Liberties” but can never name anything specific that they want to do they want to do but are prohibited from doing. If you make a little effort you can read Patrick.net in China so I don’t predict that it will go away any time soon in the US.

> Believe me, a housing crash matters to you. Its not
> really about a housing crash anymore, its about the
> destruction of trust in our financial system. It is a very
> big deal. And I’m sorry if you don’t see it coming.

It is a big deal, but most people still trust the financial system and over time they will just learn that the financial system let them may bad decisions (like the ability to buy a home with no money down and a neg am loan)…

> Heck, if I’m really hungry and you look well fed and
> plump I might be coming in your backwindow for
> your cupboard myself

Most hungry guys will pick another back window when they hear a single pump from the pistol grip Mossberg…

> The world in which we live is about to change radically.

The world is always changing, Dinosaurs don’t roam the earth any more and you can’t just head west and get free land like you could less than 100 years ago…

> For instance, I understand financial assistance for
> higher education is becoming scarce, expensive,
> and more difficult to obtain.

Every school I went to is currently offering more financial aid than ever and all have endowments that are bigger than ever (Stanford is now FREE):
http://www.mercurynews.com/crime/ci_8322329

Sure the real estate crash will suck for a lot of people, but if you were not stupid and continue to work hard you will be fine…

68   HARM   2008 Mar 7, 5:40am  

Believe me, a housing crash matters to you. Its not really about a housing crash anymore, its about the destruction of trust in our financial system. It is a very big deal. And I’m sorry if you don’t see it coming.

The "destruction of trust" in our financial system is already a fait accompli, regardless of what I or anyone else here thinks --and is well deserved. You can thank 30+ years of reckless deregulation and creeping corporate socialism for that. And yes, it IS a very "big deal". But manning the Bailout Pumps won't put Humpty Dumpty back together again.

Some things once done cannot be easily undone.

69   BayAreaIdiot   2008 Mar 7, 5:40am  

@ StuckInBA

I will enlighten you because you seem rather out of touch. I don't know where you got this propaganda that Evergreen = Cupertino but it is false. I'll let you in on a little secret: all the "truly cool" areas of Silicon Valley and the South Bay have Spanish names (Palo Alto, Los Gatos, Saratoga etc). No one will even bother with anything named Evergreen. Frankly this is part of the secret code longtime residents understand. I'm surprised you aren't up to date on that. That's why East Palo Alto is crime ridden whereas Palo Alto proper is heaven on earth - all its good juju was sucked out by that Anglo word. There are exceptions to each rule of course (e.g. I hear parts of Belmont are good) but those are just that: exceptions. Don't be a "looser".

70   DinOR   2008 Mar 7, 5:40am  

Headset,

My bad. You're right. By the end of the war only the upper crust of society could afford luxuries like that! LOL!

71   HARM   2008 Mar 7, 5:42am  

And what FAB said :-).

72   HARM   2008 Mar 7, 5:44am  

Oh, and I second that welcome back to skibum.

73   HeadSet   2008 Mar 7, 5:47am  

Crime always goes up in every economic downturn.

Didn't crime go down during the Great Depression?

74   BayAreaIdiot   2008 Mar 7, 5:48am  

Everybody is getting creative now. This from Martin Feldstein:

The federal government would lend each participant 20% of that individual's current mortgage, with a 15-year payback period and an adjustable interest rate based on what the government pays on two-year Treasury debt (now just 1.6%). The loan proceeds would immediately reduce the borrower's primary mortgage, cutting interest and principal payments by 20%. Participation in the program would be voluntary...

Anybody think this is a good idea?

75   SP   2008 Mar 7, 5:51am  

# StuckInBA Says:
But wasn’t Evergreen going to be the next Cupertino ? Are we still on that plan or has anything changed ?

Not much has changed. Only that we are now expecting Cupertino will become the next Evergreen. :-)

76   SP   2008 Mar 7, 5:53am  

FuzzyMath Says:

“A real estate crash with a side-order of credit-deflationary collapse is not the end of the world”

you keep saying that SP. Want to go into some of the reason why it’s not?

Because, as HARM put it, it is a false dichotomy.

77   HeadSet   2008 Mar 7, 5:54am  

The loan proceeds would immediately reduce the borrower’s primary mortgage, cutting interest and principal payments by 20%.

Gee. Prices will not have to rise as much for the debtor to HELOC again!

78   OO   2008 Mar 7, 5:58am  

Evergreen is on the wrong side of the Bay Area.

All the cool areas have to be on the west side.

79   Peter P   2008 Mar 7, 5:59am  

’ll let you in on a little secret: all the “truly cool” areas of Silicon Valley and the South Bay have Spanish names (Palo Alto, Los Gatos, Saratoga etc).

You forgot Los Bano.

80   HeadSet   2008 Mar 7, 5:59am  

And how would Feldstein's plan cut down on payment amounts? Making a large prepayment on a loan does not lower the payments, it shortens the term.

81   DinOR   2008 Mar 7, 6:00am  

It looks to me as if Feldstein is also trying to address the PMI issue by taking some pressure off of them. If this is about supporting prices, well then I don't like it.

82   OO   2008 Mar 7, 6:01am  

Let me just copy part of my "unpatriotic" message stuck in moderation.

I am most concerned about the crime rate of the US, because this is probably the most violent developed country I've been to.

This is not Japan, this is America. "Loser" don’t kill themselves and their immediate families out of shame, we American heroes come out with a rifle to randomly whack people out. The pattern of mass murder is very distinctive here, the murderer will take out as many people as possible before he kills himself simply because he went through a divorce or lost a job. Well, it usually doesn’t operate this way elsewhere in the world. People in Hong Kong or Japan just kill themselves, and I have no problem with absolutely no bailout in that sort of society.

83   BayAreaIdiot   2008 Mar 7, 6:01am  

Prices will not have to rise as much for the debtor to HELOC again

exactly! what there not to love :-)

In all seriousness, this seems to be the best Harvard brains can come up with. Pathetic really, but not as bad as the alternative: more "lefty" brains (Brad Delong for example), actually say that the gov. should make Fannie Mae's guarantee explicit and use it to start buying up mortgages....makes you wonder what'll happen if BO wins in November. He seems more likely to listen to Brad Delong than Feldstein.

84   FuzzyMath   2008 Mar 7, 6:05am  

"it is a false dichotomy"

true. But that fact doesn't predicate a certain outcome either. Just because we have other options doesn't mean they are likely to happen.

It seems to be common sense that if you take away half of everyone's money, that there will be some hardship going on. I guess I'm just not seeing your argument. Beyond pointing out logical fallacies you're not giving me a reason why it won't happen.

85   northernvirginiarenter   2008 Mar 7, 6:05am  

Harm

I view this as something of a false dichotomy

Point taken and agreed.

86   BayAreaIdiot   2008 Mar 7, 6:05am  

And how would Feldstein’s plan cut down on payment amounts?

I think that would happen because 20% of the loan would now be at a very very low interest. At least as long as short term treasuries are at 1-2%.

Plus -maybe- what DinOr said about PMI.

As far as supporting prices, I think that would have to be determined by what type of loans would be available to *new* buyers.....so I don't really see how Feldstein's plan does anything other than let the gov. take the 20% hit to the prices instead of the markets.

87   northernvirginiarenter   2008 Mar 7, 6:09am  

An analyst on CNBC pointed out today that with the $400B markdown so far we have effectively removed the equivalent of an entire year's government spending, $3.4 Trillion from the economy. Puts it in perspective.

That's a kick to the balls for sure. Uppercut and kick to the head coming.

88   HeadSet   2008 Mar 7, 6:12am  

Bay,

I still do not follow. If you had a $100k 30 year mortgage, and I gave you $20k to apply to the principle balance, your monthly payment would not change. You would just be making fewer payments over the term of the loan. The only way to lower the payments would be to pay off the loan in full and generate a new loan.

89   BayAreaIdiot   2008 Mar 7, 6:18am  

Headset

I see what you're saying. As best I can tell from his column, a reamortization/refinancing would occur. Gotta make those fees! PLus he suggest current mortgage holder collect for the government :-) aint it grand?

90   Peter P   2008 Mar 7, 6:18am  

OO, this is why it is very important for us to protect our 2nd Amendment rights.

91   HeadSet   2008 Mar 7, 6:20am  

with the $400B markdown so far we have effectively removed the equivalent of an entire year’s government spending, $3.4 Trillion from the economy.

So what do you call it when that funny money was added to the economy in the housing runup? Did we have the equivilent of a doubling of gov spending? Of course not. All that hapened is that people were able to borrow more, and thus spent their future earnings. Now they have to pay off the debts. If I appraise your $100k house for $200k, you did not get $100k richer unless you sold it. Likewise, if I later appraise it back to $100k, you did not lose any money.

92   Claire   2008 Mar 7, 6:24am  

Anyone got some news links for the budget cuts in CA? It seems the schools are feeling it hard - will this cause more marked price differentials in houses due to better/worse funded school districts do you think?

93   DinOR   2008 Mar 7, 6:27am  

What Feldstein is applying here (and I'm surprised at some of you!) is some of the basic prinicples of mortgage acceleration. By using (what is basically a 2nd here) he's automatically reducing the 1st. In doing so MORE of each subsequent payment reduces the principal owed!

True, you still owe on the 2nd but at a loan rate that is... more or less a gift. I'm sure the FHA/HUD pamphlet will describe how opting for this program will allow participants to "build equity more quickly reducing your debt" etc.

94   DinOR   2008 Mar 7, 6:30am  

BAI,

Had "the number" been 19% or 21% we might not have caught it! (Funny how the mind works isn't it?) Since the Gov. has taken on the role of PMI that's one less @ssclown we'll have to bail out. Feldstein is a genius I tell you!

95   OO   2008 Mar 7, 6:31am  

FAB,

just fyi, the police shut down a crack house in Hillsborough last year. The house went into foreclosure.

This economic downturn will hit a lot of upscale neighborhoods, armed robbery in Atherton, Los Altos Hills, bank robbery in Saratoga, all these supposedly very rare instances have been taking places in the last couple of years.

96   OO   2008 Mar 7, 6:37am  

Btw, I am quite stunned at the location of Harker in San Jose. I thought Harker is some sort of prestigious private school, but it is located right next to a freeway on a very commercial strip of San Jose. Do parents feel safe picking up their kids at the $30K-after-tax-per-head school?

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