Pipe dream? Obamacare

mac · Posted: Sat Oct 26, 2013 3:01 pm Post subject:

Chandler--how silly of me to have expected the right to absorb the facts. The Freddie and Fannie show didn't help, but they were late to the trough, and a relatively small part of the debacle. Of course, they were doing what was allowed under the deregulation.

mac · Posted: Sat Oct 26, 2013 4:23 pm Post subject:

Just in case someone wants to read a balanced article about the crisis that puts the role of Freddie and Fannie into perspective, this is pretty good:

http://capone.mtsu.edu/berc/tnbiz/freefall/timmons.html

The Cliff's note version:

After repeal of the Glass Steagall Act, the subprime loan business boomed. HUD policies that required a substantial portion of their loans--52%--to people below the median income level.

Cheap money and the lack of any rigorous means test for loans ignited a huge bubble in real estate. It cannot be argued that the HUD rules drove this bubble--40% of the purchases went to people who were not buying a primary residence--investors and owners of second homes.

Not in this article, but from other sources, Fannie and Freddie resisted buying securitized loans until pressured,

Sub prime loans went from a minor area of finance to a 600 billion a year business, 20% of all loans. They were, in essence, vapor ware. Policies written into the repeal of Glass Steagall by Gramm forbid regulation of those loans. The Bush administration completed the job by looking the other way and not using any of the authority that they had.

For people who purport to care deeply about money and the market, the right seems utterly clueless on this issue.

mac · Posted: Sat Oct 26, 2013 4:45 pm Post subject:

Just a little tidbit for RR. The Canadian government also provides subsidies for home ownership--although substantially more conservative:

boggsman1 · Joined: 24 Jun 2002 Posts: 9120 Location: at a computer

KGB-NP · Joined: 25 Jul 2001 Posts: 2856

Interesting! A guy goes to experience a humbling yet fun day of 40 knots rag doll WSing session only to find the usual assumptions of what I think, know, don't know, understand or don't understand (some even about my own country). You guys should go back and read what you've written. Perhaps a good WSing session could do everyone a little good. Auto attack mode or what?

nw30 · Posted: Sat Oct 26, 2013 7:08 pm Post subject:

MalibuGuru · Joined: 11 Nov 1993 Posts: 9300

KGB-NP · Joined: 25 Jul 2001 Posts: 2856

Pictures from Tuesday:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dean-Peever-Photography/194598140585455?ref=ts&fref=ts

http://steveslaby.zenfolio.com/p897798472/slideshow

swchandler · Joined: 08 Nov 1993 Posts: 10588

reinerehlers,

With all this growing mystery about your business and its growth over a span of years, to include the successful weathering of the last 5 to 6 years of the Great Recession, I was a bit curious. From what you've said in the past, I'm under the impression that you're a building contractor involved in an array of construction projects, many of which might be residential in nature. What I was wondering is whether you bill on a monthly basis as work progresses, based on agreed major milestones, or upon the final completion of the project. If you bill monthly or based on milestones, is the customers responsible for the direct payment for materials as they are incurred?

Lastly, I was curious whether you are responsible for the architectural design and engineering phases of projects, and if so, do you subcontract the work, or do you maintain your own in-house staff to do the work?