Ignorance is bliss. I love what the rest of the country thinks of my fair city. a few years ago Oakland County was listed as the 2nd richest county in the country per capita. Obviously the big 3 have nose dived over the past few years and changed the wealth factor but still. Bloomfield Hills is not Detroit. less than a million people live inside the city limits. The other 4 million or so live in the detroit metro area. Major differences.
Only one person to blame but Greenspan he single-handedly f***ed the market by flooding the market with $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Remember M3 reporting...once Greenspan requested printing presses to run 24x7 they decided better not report the increase in money supply (M3) Real inflation is running at double-digit levels, while reported inflation is <3% (providing you don't eat or use any energy). If fed cuts rates then just more fuel on the fire......unfortunately the economy has to rein in spending. US economy CAN NOT continue to run twin deficits in perpetuity.
The Fed won't cut and I'm lovin' it Prepare for decades of social dislocation and poverty. Take a bow Greenspan and Dubya!
Let's see here. 14 mil times 264,000 ave home price thats 3.7 trillion face value before interest and half of that is only 1.8 Trillion. Yikes!
Prices in some places more then doubled and tripled so this market is really working with the equivalent of 12% to 14% fixed relative to affordability. John
Except for a few pockets of suburban civility, Detroit is a cesspool of Sh*t. No jobs. Rampant crime. Broken infrastructure. Zero potential for tourism. However, for retirees, one can buy a very nice condo for 30K. Can't beat that.
after reading this thread i'm absolutely depressed. (and maybe I should be) If the fed defends the dollar, the govt creates policy to bailout the -screwed- defaulting overleveraged homeowner, a *real* energy policy of conservation and consumption tariffing evolves (and no ethanol subsidy), and entitlement obligations are reigned in... ... we have a chance. ... If the fed cuts here and euro doesn't follow suit... ... oh no.
The bridge in Minnesota failed because it wasn't fixed. It was more important to build new stadiums for Carl Polahd's Twins and the mighty Gopher football team...lol Sorry, it's funny reading that! In all seriousness though, the important issues are low on the priority list of many cities nationwide. PS - Just found out the other day that Chicago has a 9 figure budget deficit...sweet, where did all that parking ticket money go that I have donated to the city?
Oh and don't forget to vote for the new Minnesota Viking's latest billion-dollar stadium plan in 2008!
It never was about the pos borrowers, it was about harvesting them and what could be sold to investors by the Street. Now everyone is realizing there is no functioning market, no believable price discovery mechanism, no liquidity. You can't sell your bag - other than to the special situation guys, who must be making a killing. Noody believes Paulson and the Fed speakers about containment anymore.