NewsTrust - Real Estate - Most Recent Stories: Opinion (Mainstream)

Obama team still in the grip of the market mystique

Sun, 29 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Seattle Times - By Paul Krugman - Mar. 29 (Opinion) - Much discussion of the toxic-asset plan has focused on the details and the arithmetic, and rightly so. Beyond that, however, what's striking is the vision expressed both in the content of the financial plan and in statements by administration officials. In essence, the administration seems to believe that once investors calm down, securitization — and the business of finance — can resume where it left off a year or two ago.

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Thumbs Up for the Citigroup Bailout

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Wall Street Journal - By Eugene Ludwig - Nov. 25 (Opinion) - While the capital injections favored by the Treasury may have become necessary, they were clearly not sufficient. True, the government's largesse has been distributed relatively quickly and efficiently. However, it is a losing proposition to apply capital if the troubled assets are left in place.

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Texas Faith: Is it possible to think of an economy not driven by greed and fear?

Sat, 18 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Dallas Morning News - Oct. 18 (Interview) - Texas Faith is a weekly discussion that poses questions about religion, politics and culture to a panel of Texas religious leaders. This week's question: Is it possible to think of an economy not driven by greed and fear? If so, what would that economy look like?

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Bailouts are inevitable, even desirable

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Slate - By Tim Harford - Oct. 04 (Opinion) - It's easy to sympathize: The erstwhile masters of the universe seem to have forgotten the meaning of both moral and hazard. Why should they be helped now?

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Congress & the Bailout: This just stinks

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Seattle Post Intelligencer - Oct. 02 (Editorial) - We ought to be able to debate the merits of a critical piece of legislation like the economic future of our nation without resorting to gimmicks. This is Congress at its worst.

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New banking rules: tread carefully

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Financial Times - By Howard Davies - Oct. 01 (Opinion) - There is a strong populist strain of anti-banking sentiment in the US (vividly demonstrated in Congress this week) and in the UK. Banks are especially unpopular in two circumstances: first, when they are very profitable; and second, when they are very unprofitable.

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The Trickle-Up Bailout

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - By Jonathan G.S. Koppell, William N. Goetzmann - Oct. 01 (Opinion) - The financial crisis is a liquidity crisis, yes, but it is ultimately a product of homeowner failures to pay. Unless this fundamental problem is fixed, we will continue to see -- and need to treat -- the symptoms. The proposed bailout ignores this. Yet the sum being demanded from taxpayers is almost certainly more than sufficient to pay off all currently delinquent mortgages.

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We Need to Recapitalize the Banks

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Wall Street Journal - By Edmund S. Phelps - Oct. 01 (Opinion) - The banks' losses might seem poetic justice after their abominable performance. But costly feedback effects on the rest of us are in prospect.

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The sunny side of Wall Street

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Christian Science Monitor - Sep. 18 (Editorial) - Now, with the collapse of several financial institutions and a dramatic fall in stock prices, Americans need to relearn the prudent use of credit in order to avoid taking on too much debt and putting too much faith in single markets, such as housing.

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Who gets a government bailout?

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Slate - By Daniel Gross - Sep. 13 (Opinion) - Bailouts--the government's stepping in and providing financial assistance or credit guarantees to private-sector companies--are a highly confusing subject. As policymakers hasten to save some companies from the ravages of creative destruction, they leave others to fail.

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We'll Protect Taxpayers From More Bailouts

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Opinion Journal (WSJ) - By John Mccain, Sarah Palin - Sep. 09 (Opinion) - We promise the American people that our administration will be different. We have long records of standing up to special interests and providing the leadership to change government and make it more accountable to the American taxpayer. In our administration, every agency and department will undergo rigorous oversight and review. We will require the highest standards of accounting, reporting and transparency ever demanded in government.

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Loan Rangers

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

New Yorker - By John Cassidy - Jul. 22 (Opinion) - Policymakers now face a series of decisions that will determine not merely the fate of this particular cycle but the nature of the federal government's role in the economy for the next generation. In a political system as balkanized as ours, it is only in moments of genuine danger that meaningful reforms get enacted.

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Securitization and the Mortgage Mess

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Wall Street Journal - By Vincent Reinhart - Jul. 18 (Opinion) - The problem with securitization is that it dilutes individual responsibility. The mortgage broker can easily become disconnected from the outcome of the initial lending decision. Federal regulation is needed to ensure that mortgage originators perform the appropriate due diligence in matching potential borrowers with loan products. Underwriters should be required to retain an interest in what they issue.

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L-ish economic prospects

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Paul Krugman - Jul. 18 (Opinion) - Home prices are in free fall. Unemployment is rising. Consumer confidence is plumbing depths not seen since 1980. When will it all end? The answer is, probably not until 2010 or later.

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There Is No Reason to Panic

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Wall Street Journal - By Peter J. Wallison - Jul. 14 (Opinion) - If Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were ordinary corporations, the sudden collapse of investor confidence last week would have set them to work on their bankruptcy applications. But they are not ordinary corporations -- and they are likely to survive because their debt securities have been viewed for decades as ultimately backed by the U.S. government.

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New site targets transparency in real estate fees

Tue, 05 Dec 2006 12:34:21 -0800

NBC News - By Jane Wells, CNBC - Dec. 05 (Interview) - LowerFees Inc. provides real estate consumers with fee transparency and reduces the confusion about the charges during a real estate transaction. The web portal is an "open marketplace" to breakdown complicated vendor fees for closing costs. In other words it provides a Good Faith Estimate for the transaction that compares fees from multiple vendors.

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