Tax Break Contributed to Bubble
Don’t blame it all on Bush, or on deregulation-crazed Republicans. An article in the NY Times today suggests that the housing bubble, and its subsequent bursting, may have been aided by a Clinton cut on capital gains tax. One real estate broker made $700,000 in three years, “and thanks to a tax break proposed by…
Don’t blame it all on Bush, or on deregulation-crazed Republicans. An article in the NY Times today suggests that the housing bubble, and its subsequent bursting, may have been aided by a Clinton cut on capital gains tax. One real estate broker made $700,000 in three years, “and thanks to a tax break proposed by President Bill Clinton and approved by Congress in 1997, he did not have to pay tax on most of that profit. It was a break that had not been available to generations of Americans before him.” Such situations enticed more and more folks into real estate, making homes “tax-free windfalls” and increasing sales by 17 percent. The tax breaks caused a zeitgeist shift, whereby a home became less an abode than an investment. They admit, though, that a tax break alone is not responsible for the mess. Other reasons include “a relaxation of lending standards, a failure by regulators to intervene, a sharp decline in interest rates and a collective belief that house prices could never fall.” And it turns out the tax cut came from the Clinton administration, but was in the mind of the Dole camp; they rolled out the idea first, making Clinton nervous; he pledged to cut capital gains to catch up.
Tax Break May Have Helped Cause Housing Bubble [NY Times]
Photo by Paul Graham Raven.
So the Clintonites should have known that, eight years after they left office, the system would fully implode? Did Bush have eight years to correct for the excesses of his predecessor? In being closer in time to the actual crisis, did he have any added responsibility for foreseeing and preventing it? Idiot.
Ooops;
Sorry folks, I wrote this comment on the wrong thread.
BRG;
OK, here is something we can agree on wrt Fedders housing. I know the type of landlord of which you speak, and agree about that!! How about that?!?! I will say, however, that I think this type of landlord is generally rstricted to the southern parts of the Borough.
Hey, I once was a landlord myself. There is a flip side to the story. My tenant was a “professional New York City tenant”, if you know what I mean. She lived in the apartment for 40 years, and acted like SHE owned the place. Her bedroom was right above mine, and if she didn’t approve of the way I ran the place, she’d drag her bed across the floor to keep me awake.
DIBS: Johny Carson and Don Rickles: now THAT was entertainment. I went to see Don Rickles about 1.5 years ago out at Westbury, and it was great. He’s slowed down alot, but still can rung rings around most folks.
I’m from “the buck stops here” school of management. managers manage and if they don’t, shareholders should throw ’em out. The f-series (and ram and silverado and sierra to a lesser extent) is the only thing that sells. Maybe they should just get out of the car business and stick to trucks, designed a generation ago.
But without the free money, nothing down, no credit or documented job needed and other tax break and investing enticements, most of your brownstones would still be worth $200K (or less) as they really still should be in the real world. It was only because people could pay whatever price was being asked and had other incentives that they inflated to these assinine prices anyway. But OMG we can’t have that. What would happen if our houses were suddenly worth the buildable replacement cost? I for one am ready for mine to be back to that level so my taxes will go down, insurance will go down, and my kids can actually buy in the neighborhood. I’ve said it before, the only places a house should be over a million is in Beverly Hills or the Hamptons.
“The Great Depression 2”
A sequel? Naw, that’s far too optimistic, Return Of Markopolos. It’s gonna be THE GREATEST DEPRESSION in this country. We dominated production back then. All we produce now are dollar bills.
***Bid half off peak comps***
That may have been civil but it was utterly useless.
Good morning folks! How is everyone doing?! It’s a beautiful day and we are expecting some snow.
You Homeboy The What is in a good mood these days. You have noticed I don’t have to swear anymore or rant on the Mutant Asset Bubble. The MAB is imploding right in front of your faces and it’s a sight to behold! Billions of dollars are being sucked thru the Black Hole and never to return again.
Now read this this: You are entering the beginning of The Great Depression 2, that’s right, GD2! The only way we can solve this problem now is the Baby Boomer must die off. The younger children will have to fix this mess. It will take a whole generation to make America whole.
Congratulations Asshats!
The What
Someday this war is gonna end..
Whuh;
I see. Excuse me, but didn’t Greenspan serve under another president? I seem to recall that this other president thought so highly of the guy, he made him sit next to his wife during the state of the union address.
Yes, we can all see that you don’t have any ax to grind in this matter.