Not all is well on the housing front. Housing still too expensive for middle class Americans – 9 Years of Housing Inventory and 7 Million Homes 30+ Days Late or in Foreclosure. How the government is keeping and encouraging expensive housing.
Since the recession started in December of 2007, over 7 million foreclosures have been initiated. In no other time in history have we seen this magnitude of problems in the housing market. And these problems still persist. It is estimate that another 6 to 9 million homes are at risk of foreclosure in the upcoming [...]
How much do average Americans make after the Great Recession? Examining the income of U.S. households. 65 percent of U.S. households live on $65,000 or less.
In order to understand the middle class, we first have to draw a line in the economic sand. Many in our society would like to believe that we live in a classless system but this isn’t true especially when we look at the financial data. This classless belief has been shattered with the current structure [...]
The Futile Act of Saving in America Today – No Money Down Car Purchases, Low Down Payment for a big Mortgage, and High Interest Credit Cards for Everyday Spending.
This recession did change spending, at least for a few months. When the recession hit Americans had a negative savings rate, the first time ever we had the ability to spend more than we actually brought in. As the recession progressed, Americans did start saving and we took the personal savings rate to 6% (this [...]
$10 Billion a Month Freed up Each Month from People not paying their Mortgage. $1.9 Billion of That is in California so People can continue Leasing their SUV Mercedes and Getting Tans. Thanks Bailouts!
Living in California, the central hub of housing bubble mania, I have come to realize that many people that overpaid for homes are now quickly shifting their mindset to one of non-payment revolt. With the 24 hours news cycle and instant viral financial information, many are now realizing that strategically defaulting isn’t such a bad [...]
The Future of U.S. Housing – Projections of Household Formation, Loan Modification Data, 500,000 Option ARMs Still Active, and a Decade of Stagnation.
Take what you knew about projecting housing for the last fifty years and throw it out the window. The big problem with using models post-World War II is that they base growth on a baby boomer population that was the largest affluent middle class cohort known to the world. That model is now disappearing. Some [...]
Stock Market Hustle – Three Ways Wall Street has Created a New American Serfdom. The Overly Expensive Mortgage Deduction, Wall Street Pseudo-Rally, and Attacking the Poor.
Last week the S&P 500 almost reached an impressive 80 percent gain from the red abyss seen in March of 2009. This puts this stock market rally up in the ranks of the strongest and fastest market turnarounds in history. Yet on Friday news of Goldman Sachs betting on toxic mortgages sold to clients brought [...]
The Great American Bank Heist – On the Day we Reach a Monthly Foreclosure Filing Record Banks Announce Record Profits and the Stock Market is up 80 Percent.
It is rather fitting that on the day we hear about banks reaching record profits once again, because after all it is so difficult to borrow at zero percent and gamble in the stock market and make a gain, that we also find out that March was the highest month of foreclosure filings ever (and [...]
The Invisible Recovery – 40,000,000 Americans Receiving Food Stamp Assistance – Since 2000 23 Million Americans have been added to the Food Assistance Program.
The latest food stamp data for January of 2010 shows that 39,430,724 Americans are receiving food stamps or are part of the supplemental nutritional assistance program (SNAP). If you make the acronym and name long enough and with a neutral undertone average Americans won’t fret that 40 million of their fellow neighbors are one government [...]
The $2.3 Trillion State and Local Government Debt Monster – California Pension Systems on Unsupportable Path with $500 Billion Projected Shortfall. CalPERS, CalSTRS, and UCRS.
Much of the focus on government debt over the past few years has revolved around the federal government. No doubt, this is a stunningly large amount. Yet the government has the ability to finance this debt through the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve with a buffet of choices. You have direct bailouts to Wall Street, [...]
State and Local Budget Crisis Black Swan – California paying out $100 Million per Day in Unemployment Insurance. Detroit’s Shrinking Population Crushes Revenues. The Employment Situation at a Micro Level.
One stunning statistic that hit this week regards California’s unemployment insurance claims being paid out. California is paying out some $100 million per day in unemployment benefits. I’m not sure if I would call it a “benefit” but more as a buffer to get by. In reality if we really want to get a pulse [...]
