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Partnoy Says Politics Made a Mess of Financial Inquiry
And all three reports are probably correct for what they emphasized. However, by not agreeing on a final report no one is accountable. The political class and Wall Street escape the consequences of the disaster they have caused and are still there to cause more damage.— February 4, 2011 10:06 p.m.
Employment Data Have Economists Scratching Heads
It seems that when the employment/unemployment numbers are revised a couple weeks after the initial publication, the numbers are worse. It may be that the data is more complete, but it does make you wonder. It is my understanding that the self-employed who close their businesses are not included in the official unemployment numbers. Inflation, particularly food and energy, appears to be much higher than the near zero official numbers. The apparent higher inflation, combined with extremely low interest rates, is devastating the elderly who rely on their safe investments to supplement their social security checks. Although we focus on the final number, the assumptions used in the methodology-even when done in good faith--can have a significant impact on the results. Most of us do not have a clue as to how these numbers are calculated.— February 4, 2011 9:59 p.m.
New York State Takes Over Finances of Wealthy Nassau County
Several years ago I used to temporarily work in New Jersey. You could tell how close you were to Manhattan by the mile by how rude the people were. The cost of living in Manhattan is beyond reason. Unless you are wealthy, you feel like a pauper. San Francisco may be a world unto itself, but it is a very beautiful city and nowhere near as expensive.— January 27, 2011 11:05 p.m.
New York State Takes Over Finances of Wealthy Nassau County
It will be interesting to see what the oversight board does. As always, the details of the outcome will be far more revealing than what is said at the initial announcement. Nassau County's predicament is typical of what affects most government entities that are in financial trouble: it is not a revenue problem but a lack of control on expenditures. Does the state of New York have a similar board to control the government in Albany? We shall see what happens there. Then there is California and its cities and counties rapidly heading towards insolvency.— January 27, 2011 12:17 a.m.
San Diego Home Values Beat the Field in November. But...
How will the shadow inventory affect prices? The foreclosures associated with the sub-prime loans have already occurred. However, the foreclosures associated with buyers who qualified by standard lending practices, but owe more than the current market values, are still looming over the real estate market. Rising interest rates may have a counterintuitive impact of raising prices in the short-term as people buy a home before the loans become unaffordable.— January 25, 2011 11:28 p.m.
Will Water Rate Increase Be Diverted to Pensions?
The more we hand over to government, the less freedom we have and the more opportunity we give our "public servants" to featherbed their positions. Government bureaucracies, just as bureaucracies in private industry, have a self-preservation bias. Without external pressures, such as caused by competitors in the marketplace, bureaucracies will come up with every reason and justification for why they are necessary. There is virtually no competition, other than a well-informed and vigilant electorate, to the public bureaucracies. Their "management" has a conflict-of-interest in making the public-sector bureaucracies efficient. We just pay and pay. Perhaps bankruptcy/insolvency will begin to reduce this exploitation of the public. On a slightly different topic, who exactly is the "establishment?" Is it developers (who), the UT, public employee union leadership, the permanent city staff, elected officials, etc.? The word is used by many here and I would like to have a better understanding. Particularly names, organizations or companies.— January 25, 2011 11:05 p.m.
Loan Modification Scamster Gets Five Years
Five years is probably not enough, but I am not very familiar with legal system. However, $450k in restitution is definitely not enough. People who commit financial fraud should be hit very hard where it hurts them--in their finances. A penalty of 20 or 50% of their assets, in addition to restitution, is a much fairer penalty and one that may deter this type of predator.— January 25, 2011 10:31 p.m.
Wall Street Traders Bring Home Far More Than Brain Surgeons
I do not favor high marginal tax rates and believe it is dangerous when politicians start playing the envy card. However, Wall Street receives compensation that has minimal correlation to their economic value. You can get monopoly compensation when you own the political class in both parties and the media. The "too big to fail" is a con on the public. These people gamble with the taxpayer's money. The Frank-Dodd "reform" probably made the problem worse. It is like heads they win and tails we lose.— January 14, 2011 12:38 a.m.
Brown's Redevelopment Proposal, If Passed, Could Whack Corporate Welfare
Don's comments on this blog, and his articles, make them more informative. One of the reasons that I comment and is to generate a dialogue. Sometimes I completely agree with Don and other times I completely disagree with him, but almost always I learn. The job he does on bringing sunshine to insider dealings is invaluable to creating a well-informed public. If Don were disrespectful or censor those with whom he disagreed, then I may agree with your comment.— January 12, 2011 11:09 p.m.
NFL Head Steps on His Tongue; Chargers Denuded
"We need to get back to a system that allows us to make those investments to grow the game." ======== And who exactly benefits if the game grows? The public or the owners and players? Since virtually all of the benefits go to the owners and, to a lesser degree the players, they should make any necessary investments. Although it is true that the experience at home is much better than it used to be, it still would not be as big an issue if the cost to go to the game were not so excessive between the ticket price, the parking, the food, etc.. Also football is probably the one team sport that is usually much better on television than it is live. Hockey is probably at the other extreme--much better in person. The infrastructure improvements made for AT&T Park in San Francisco have probably more than paid for themselves. The area south of Market Street used to be a complete dump. It is a much nicer place today where many people live. On the other hand, the special insider deals that appear to have been made for the development of Treasure Island (landfill in the middle of the Bay Bridge with beautiful views) is a totally different story. Then again, it is not appropriate for Scam Diego but would probably be for Scam Frisco.— January 11, 2011 11:14 p.m.