KeNo's Housing and Economic Portal: Sunday August 7 Housing and Economic stories

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Sunday August 7 Housing and Economic stories

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TOP STORIES:

How banks are rotting away the housing market - (www.chicagotribune.com) America's big banks, among others, that helped send us spiraling into the Great Recession are at it again. They're warning of even more dire consequences if we don't follow their advice and raise the U.S. debt limit. In an April 25 letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Matthew E. Zames, a managing director at JPMorgan Chase, conjured up a financial apocalypse certain to follow if the government can't borrow more billions. A week ago, 300 corporate leaders issued similar warnings. Businesses frightened by the prospect of a U.S. default have been intensely lobbying their closest friends: conservative Republicans who are resisting a higher debt ceiling. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers and the Financial Services Forum are among those warning that the failure to raise the debt ceiling would boost interest rates, collapse the stock market, destroy banks and hurl us into a worse recession. It takes brass for some of those responsible for our troubles, but who benefited to the tune of more than $1 trillion in bailouts, to prophesy certain doom. It is especially hard to swallow their warnings when they are doing so much to prolong the financial crisis by sitting on mountains of cash.

10 Mind-Blowing Facts About Broke Americans - (www.businessinsider.com) The crumbling U.S. economy is putting an extraordinary amount of financial stress on American families. For many Americans, "flat broke" has become a permanent condition. Today, over half of all American families live paycheck to paycheck. Unemployment is rampant and those that do actually have jobs are finding that their wages are rising much more slowly than prices are. The financial condition of average American families continues to decline and this is showing up in all of the recent surveys. For example, according to a new Gallup poll, "lack of money/low wages" is the number one financial concern for American families. To make ends meet, many American families are going into even more debt and more American families than ever are turning to government assistance. Right now, more Americans than at any other point since World War II are flat broke and have lost hope. Until this changes, the frustration level in this country is going to continue to grow.

Borders, Cisco Cutting as Many Jobs as the Economy Added in June - (www.theatlantic.com) In June, the economy added only 18,000 jobs net. Today, Borders and Cisco announced they were cutting a combined 17,500 jobs. Uh oh.

Israel: Students protest soaring rent prices - (www.latimesblogs.latimes.com) In Tel Aviv, the only thing more scarce than legal parking is affordable housing. Coveted by students and many other young Israelis, the seaside culture and business hub is overflowing with people looking for a place to live. Buying is out of the question, and the cost of renting is as high as the flats are small and scarce. Last week, students took to the streets to protest the housing shortage and high prices, turning Tel Aviv into a huge campground as dozens of tents were set up, complete with makeshift facilities, kitchens and, of course, a lot of media attention. Maybe it's that protest is in the regional air. Or maybe members of the usually blase public were emboldened by a recent campaign to boycott cottage cheese that succeeded in bringing powerful dairy companies to their knees and lowering prices. Either way, tent towns are sprouting up all over, along with demands for a housing solution.

Transportation Secretary Fumes Against Congress For Allowing FAA To Shut Down - (www.businessinsider.com) The partial shutdown of the Federal Aviation Administration over the weekend has angered nobody—perhaps not even the 4,000 agency personnel that were furloughed as of Saturday—quite as much as it has angered Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood. "The fact that Congress can't work this out is exactly why people are fed up with Washington," Lahood said this morning in a conference call with reporters. The FAA has been funded with 20 short-term extensions since 2007, when its last long-term authorization bill expired. The agency partially shut down at midnight on Friday because Congress failed to agree on the terms of a 21st extension.