Retail Sales Surprise on the Upside
Feb. 12 (Bloomberg) — Sales at U.S. retailers unexpectedly halted a record six-month slide in January, reflecting higher gasoline prices and more spending on items such as clothing and food. The 1 percent increase followed a revised 3 percent drop the prior month, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. Purchases excluding automobiles gained 0.9…
Feb. 12 (Bloomberg) — Sales at U.S. retailers unexpectedly halted a record six-month slide in January, reflecting higher gasoline prices and more spending on items such as clothing and food. The 1 percent increase followed a revised 3 percent drop the prior month, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. Purchases excluding automobiles gained 0.9 percent. Consumer spending, about 70 percent of the economy, is likely to resume shrinking as the year progresses, according to a separate monthly Bloomberg News survey, capping the longest slide on record. Lawmakers are aiming to shore up the economy with a $789 billion stimulus package that’s designed to create 3.5 million new jobs.
JUST HIT THE TAPE — US to subsidize mortgages.
JUST HIT THE TAPE — US to subdize mortgages.
DIBS – and things are working now? Many of us work, and work hard, for salaries far less than the 500k that Wall Streeters are complaining about. I am not sure of the tax rates in Albania, Zimbabwe or North Korea, but I suspect their problems may lie elsewhere. And of course progressive taxation would not be as harsh on poor schmucks like me.
There are many reasons to work – we have allowed a distortion of the economy in which short term gain is rewarded above all else. Are we surprised we are where we are? Is there really any value in having bankers earn so much? Has this led to better banks? Seemingly not.
Given that those in careers who seem to have more than passing or self-centered value earn far less, why should we bend over backwards for the financial classes? If that means fewer people choose that profession, more the better.
mo, they already had bad credit. they’re sub-prime borrowers. there’s no downside for them to walk away.
I am not contesting what you say, and it’s tragic. but I think the true broker fraud was a smaller part of the picture than the press would have you believe. it makes such a good story.
back in 2004 by brother was making 150K and went to get approval for a 400K mortgage. he got back a pre-approval for 850K. I was thinking “this will not end well”. I will admit that 2 years later I believed that the market had proven me wrong. no one’s perfect.
Also, foreclosure destroys your credit, so many will find it difficult to rent.
Joe and Gemini, you sort of have half the picture. People were targeted by subprime lenders based on WHERE they lived, not their credit scores. They were never offered fixed loans. They were sold the house and the mortgage like car buyers are sold cars — or widows funerals. It was “how much can you pay a month,” don’t ask any more questions. Many did not know to get their own independent lawyer, inspector, etc. Their understanding of the details is about the same as ours.
On the flip side, many of my friends who do NOT live in these areas ask “Why wasn’t I offered these kinds of deals?”
The subprime areas are the same as the neighborhoods that were once redlined (if they were standing back then) and they are redlined again today, with PMI companies unwilling to insure and lenders charging premiums even to people with outstanding qualifications.
All this talk about confiscatory taxation. By comparison, putnamdenizen, you should have no money left after you buy milk & bread. If there are no rewards to strive for then nothing works…think Albania, Zimbabwe, North Korea.
Across the street for me is the old Lincoln Club – which was the Republican Club of Bedford-Stuyvesant, I believe. Perhaps the posters on this thread might want to see if it is for sale?
Seems to me we don’t have to put caps on executives or make them sell their planes. All we have to do is return to steep progressive, nay confiscatory tax rates. There seems to have been little social value in encouraging certain parasitical classes (the finance industry, real estate developers, etc) to retain their earnings. By reducing the financial rewards of these industries we can perhaps redirect people to more productive industries – science, engineering, teaching, etc.
They can earn whatever they want – they just can’t keep it.
He was pushing everything under the sun with that stupid Boo Yah cheer.