Greenspan’s Ancient Behind would be a great name for a Japanese taiko punk group. It has a koan-esque quality.

One of my favorite little publications over the past 20 years is /Elysian Fields Quarterly/, a journal of baseball that is about baseball as cultural epic, not “sport” or industry. In a discussion of the then-emerging hyper-corporate economics of baseball in the late ’80s one of its writers referred to “Visigoths in pinstripes.” He was writing about the team owners who hold cities hostage for new stadia with all the luxury accoutrements.

But the phrase stuck in my mind.

I will note that where the Roman Empire was concerned, it was lucky it was overrun by Visigoths rather than, say, the NAR. But let me not digress into ancient and ecclesiastical history; this isn’t the place.

Thanks, Doc.

rose
PS–I note that in our household the biggest inflationary ratio is on EVFCP olive oil. Even the cheaper stuff has gone up over 300 percent in the past 5 years. Yikes.

Where was I? I don’t think more sprawl is at all a feasible plan for the future. I see nothing but higher fuel costs in the future. If gas prices are such that few people want to live in the “urban peripheries” due to fuel cost, then it really won’t bring housing costs down in the truly desirable (city and nearby suburb areas) will it? Yes if everyone telecommuted, or if we suddenly had a wonderful public transportation system that even served the peripheries etc … but we’re veering very far from actual reality here.

P.S. There are REO’s listed as “Homes For Sale”
and “Foreclosure Sales” (double entries)
I am estimating that at least 1/3 of the “homes for Sale” are actually
REO’s of the “higher value kind” (when the bank is still desperately trying to get their money’s worth and the house hasn’t been trashed yet.

And this is a sleepy little town in Northern California.

Whom are we kidding? I have been watching the entries for a month now…
The Foreclosures go up and up and up
It went from 18 pages to now 32 pages…

The condo’s in the “undesirable” part of town are now listed for as little
as 80 000 in the REO section and 129K to 145K in the “home for sale”
section.

Average price for a decent 3 bdrm. 2 bath – 350K to 400K
Of course the same size house may already be listed as an REO
for as little as 250K.
So… are we done yet? – has the bottom been found?
No! – Even a layman can tell you that this isn’t over yet.

Oh by the way… the heating costs for this winter are going to be way up.
Let’s see how these vaulted ceilings and wood panel flooring 3000 sq. ft.
mansion will eat up any remaining discretionary Dollars.

Which leads me to my usual gripe. CREDIT CARDS….
Oh yeah… it is absolutely amazing…. how often they are being declined
at the Register.

I don’t think the Retail Sector will see any “Christmas Sales” this year.
The cards are being maxed out right now and with everybody stretching their budget and using their cards to compensate… Good Luck America.

Pray that this winter will be mild… there is at least that chance for California.

As long as adjustable rate mortgages are fully amortizing, they have their legitimate place in the US as well as in the other democratic countries where they are the predominant form of mortgages. The quote I know from Greenspan about adjustable rate mortgages points correctly top their benefits in the 80s (he also said stupid things, of course, about financial sophisticated borrowers). I, too, consider option mortgages a public danger, with their possible negative amortization, but we should also call them option mortgages and not blame all adjustable rate mortgages. Or would you like congress to step in and order everyone who want to buy to get a fixed-rate mortgage, regardless of interest environment?

I consider not the arrival of adjustable rate mortgages the main culprit of the easy lending in the housing bubble but the disappearance of downpayments. If congress would take measures that discourage buying without downpayments, I would welcome that. And if they really want to mess with adjustable rate mortgages, they should go and forbid all prepayment penalties on future adjustable rate mortgages, which would weed out those loans that force big future payments on the borrower. If the rate is adjustable, the lenders already have a tool against interest risk, and there is no need to secure themselves double (if they don’t want to prey on ignorant borrowers).