The Anti-green Jobs Hoax

“The biggest environmental challenge is, of course, that posed by climate change. Scarce environmental resources are treated as if they are free. All prices are distorted as a result, in some cases badly so. …. we have seen how distorted housing prices distorted the economy … The distortion in environmental prices is of equal magnitude; it has led to the using up of key resources in an unsustainable way;...

Are Slow Growth Advocates Really the Cause of a Soft Real Estate Market?

“Is the housing market vulnerable? Yes, it is. But is a bubble likely to happen? No, it is not. The underlying strength of our economy is too great.” “Historically speaking, the doldrums surrounding the housing market are not as serious as they appear.” “A persistent obstacle to affordability is posed by environmental restrictions that make it impossible for builders to produce enough homes to satisfy...

A Long and Hard Road Ahead

Time To Reset Our Thinking The Federal Reserve recently revised its economic forecast predicting that recovery will come in 2010 rather than later this year. Not surprising, since our titanic economy simply is not that nimble. Regardless of how aggressively a stimulus is applied, economies don’t turn on a dime. Case in point: In August 1981, the Economic Recovery Tax Act was passed to...

The New Deal Mortgage System and the Failure of Bullnomics

The Era of Market Triumphalism Is Over By Frank Schiavone “I feel that in some small way we are doing something important. Satisfying a fundamental urge. It’s deep in the race of man to want his own roof and walls and fireplace, and we’re helping him get those things in our shabby little office.” - George Bailey (It’s a Wonderful Life) The fully amortized, long-term mortgage is a...

There’s Enough Blame To Go Around

We Are All In This Together Now   By Frank Schiavone Big crises are not caused by just one thing. They are usually the culmination of a lot of things – wrongheaded thinking, failed policies, poor choices, deliberate inaction, and selfish impulses that are inherent in much of what we humans do. Our nation’s economic meltdown is no different. It did not happen by chance or just...