Mel
Watt soon to loot the GSEs for political gain - (www.ochousingnews.com) I recently asked What would
Watt do as the new head of the GSEs? His public statements support the view he
would institute a widespread principal reduction program to loot the GSEs for
political gain. Such a policy would be a tremendous boon to loanowners and his
colleagues on the political left. His predecessor, Edward DeMarco, fervently
resisted such policies because he recognized the moral hazards, and he wasn’t
motivated to help politicians buy votes. By contrast, Mel Watt is a political
hack who would like to dole out taxpayer funds to buy more votes for his party.
Thursday’s Senate vote to eliminate the use of the filibuster to block certain presidential nominees
paves the way for the Senate to confirm Rep. Mel Watt (D., N.C.) to head the
agency that controls mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The installation of Mr. Watt is part of a
broader effort to redirect an impending overhaul of Fannie and Freddie, which
have been in a government conservatorship since being rescued by taxpayers in
2008. Last month, Senate Republicans took the rare step of blocking a sitting
member of Congress to an executive post when they voted against bringing Mr.
Watt’s nomination to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency up for a vote. Mr.
Watt needed three more Republican votes to reach 60, the number needed to
overcome a filibuster. Only two Republicans, Sens. Richard Burr of North
Carolina and Rob Portman of Ohio, backed Mr. Watt.
Paris
Office Market Wilts to 10-Year Low as Taxes Crimp Spending - (www.bloomberg.com) In
the heart of Paris’s swanky 7th arrondissement, the 17th-century Laennec hospital is
being refurbished to house Gucci-owner Kering SA’s new headquarters. For
Olivier Wigniolle, the chief executive officer of Allianz Real Estate France, which owns the site, the Kering project is a
bright spot in an otherwise gloomy Paris office market. Allianz bought the
establishment with its two historic buildings and a chapel in 2002 for 82
million euros ($111 million) and is now spending 95 million euros to fix it up.
“Large companies are leaning toward renegotiating leases rather than planning
large and costly moves,” Wigniolle said in an interview. “They’re hunkering
down to focus on operations since the economic situation isn’t great.” The
office take-up in and around Paris is set to fall by 30 percent this year to a 10-year
low of 1.8 million square meters, according to broker DTZ. That’s less than in 2009, when the French
economy contracted the most since World War II.
CBS
Puts ‘60 Minutes’ Reporter on Leave After Benghazi Story - (www.bloomberg.com) CBS Corp. (CBS) put
“60 Minutes” correspondent Lara Logan and her producer Max McClellan on leave
after finding their report on Benghazi “deficient.” The news program aired a
segment on Oct. 27 that purported to be an eyewitness account of the attack in
Libya that left U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three others dead. An
internal review by Al Ortiz, CBS News’ executive director of standards and
practices, found that the “60 Minutes” reporting team didn’t sufficiently vet
the account of Dylan Davies, the security contractor who was the focus of the
story, according to an internal memo obtained by Bloomberg
News.
The show also “erred” in not disclosing that a book co-written by Davies about
the attack was published by Threshold Editions, an imprint of Simon &
Schuster,
which is a unit of the CBS Corp., according to the memo.
U.S.
Sent B-52s Into China Air Zone, Official Says - (www.bloomberg.com) The
U.S. flew two unarmed B-52 bombers into a disputed air-defense zone claimed by China, the first test of China’s response amid
escalating tensions in the region that have implications for international air
travel. The flight of bombers into China’s newly claimed zone occurred without
incident, according to a U.S. defense official. The area includes three islands
in the East China Sea that are owned by Japan, a major U.S. ally, and have been
at the center of a dispute between Asia’s two biggest economies. China
announced the air-defense identification zone effective Nov. 23 and said its
military will take “defensive emergency measures” if aircraft enter the area
without reporting flight plans or identifying themselves. Japan, which
denounced the move, told its airlines to stop providing flight plans to China.
Within hours of that request, ANA Holdings Inc. (9202) and Japan Airlines Co. (9201), the country’s two biggest carriers, said they
would stop reporting flight plans for planes traveling through the zone.
Norway
Poised to Relax Bank Rules to Fight Against House Buyers - (www.bloomberg.com) Norway is moving closer to easing mortgage
lending standards as the nation’s deflating property market prompts concern
among lawmakers that existing regulations are too tight. Real estate prices,
which have doubled over the past decade and touched a record high this year,
are now dropping faster than the central bank had predicted. The
Conservative-led government, which won power in September, says it’s now
looking into raising the amountbanks can
lend to borrowers to 90 percent of a property’s value, from 85 percent
previously, in an effort to support first-time buyers. “Norwegian banks are
already in a good position,” Hans Olav Syversen, the head of the parliamentary
finance committee in Oslo and a member of the Christian Democrat party that the
government relies on to rule, said in a Nov. 21 interview. “We’re asking for a
more flexible rule. A 10 percent down-payment should be enough if banks take
into account individuals and their own ability to pay their debts.”
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