Sep 25 2007
Real Estate, Loans, and U.S. Economy
The summer of 2007 seemed to have been in a slump. Everyone hoping to have a profitable summer with more homes for sale on the market, loans approved left and right, and the U.S. economy looking so much better than the year before.
What happened?
Fall is upon us and the scare of subprimes surfaced. More and more people are losing their homes, lenders are closing most of their branches and in some cases declaring bankruptcy, while the U.S. ecomony is seeing more and more layoffs causing a multitude of chain reactions and Wall Steet desparately clinging on to projected numbers while investors demand immediate results and the Feds lowering interest rates yet again.
Where is this heading? A possible and potential, dare I say, recession.
Here are a two links that list the activities of mortgage lenders such as
closures, layoffs, bankruptcy and more:
The Truth About Mortgage
The Mortage Lender IMPLODE-O-METER
I wonder how 2008 will look. Will there be more jobs created? Will there be affordable home? Will the cost of living slowdown? Will the U.S. Dollar lose it’s buying power? What will happen?
9 Responses to “Real Estate, Loans, and U.S. Economy”
I agree the root of this problem started way before the summer season kicked in. I find the the news media reporting these figures curious because they are trying to please the investor and yet drum up drama to draw people in. Yet the information is not in real time, it’s several weeks–more like months old. The data reported whether it’s by news media, financial market, real estate market and even survey market are serveral months old.
The hell with the recession! We’ve had em before. The thing I’m most afraid of is the alliance of Russia, Iran, China, Brazil, etc. Do you know our military runs on equipment made in China? How stupid is that? I want to hide somewhere. Hope Quito is nice.
What??? Seriously, Is the U.S. Government blind? What were they thinking buying or manufacturing our military equipment. Something is so wrong. Same here, looking forward to Quito.
I don’t think Quito is the place to hide, unless you want inflation, five presidents in a day, and two juntas a week, and an active volcano. Things have quieted down more recently, but the last couple of years have been pretty awful for Ecuador. They are also a poster-child for how oil companies can rape a country and a people.
I have a feeling that there are many waivers (steel for instance), but I hope that you are correct. If the law was strictly enforced, why did they have to tighten it? It’s good news that they are though. I’ve thought for years that we’re too complacent (and greedy) regarding China. Hopefully it’s just my paranoia. I heard something about this on the news, but I may have misunderstood.
Ron’s really scaring me about Ecuador. Now I’m afraid to go! Everything I read (the tourist sites, admittedly) said it was like the US in the 50′s!!! Except for the Columbian border.
I wouldn’t be scared about going to Ecuador as a tourist, though you want to stay away from the Columbian and Peruvian borders. The government follows the standard model: Completely screwed up. Though things seem to have settled down recently.
Any sort of Galapagos-like trip is likely going to be fine, as it’s a huge money maker for them. Something like 100,000 tourists a year. Heck, there are 20,000+ people living on the islands–they ain’t deserted, at least around the ports.
I’ve been researching Ecuador’s overall situation and of course it not perfect but what country is? Like most places your awareness is your first and best defense. I already know which areas in Quito to avoid and which areas are consider safe for tourist.
Furthermore, John B. from Northrop went this summer and a had a great time in the Galapagos. Like Ron said the Ecuadorian government can not afford to have problems on these island. That’s why they are so strict. Dig around and you’ll see it like anything.
P.S. The US during the 50′s? Do you mean McCarthy, the Cold War, the Korean War, Nike Missile Silos, or the Edsel?
Every decade sucks. Every decade is great. The 60′s had Vietnam and assassinations, but it also had moon landings.
Re: Steel, the Chinese, etc. I’d be a lot more concerned if the U.S. lost the *capacity* to manufacture those things.
We buy steel / toys / grain from China because it’s cheap, not because we can’t make them ourselves. (Versus countried like Japan and Germany, who started–and lost–WW II due to natural resources.)
One of the great strengths of the U.S. is that it’s able to be self-sufficient. We can “go it alone”, without tremendous hardship; we’d just have to give up on our stupid gasoline cars and dinosaur-burning stoves.
Gotta agree with you there. Americans (us) are pretty tough, though we like our comforts. We are hobbits. Mass culture gives the world a distorted view of us. Wish they could see the people I knew in WV! Really gritty people.
Yeah, we DO have some steel mills left. I guess we could gear up.
Was mostly teasing about Ecuador. I do not think that the 50′s description meant politically. More like costs and pace of life. Any maybe the attitude toward women, I fear.