Alan Greenspan says US missed opp.
From the Wsj online www.wsj.com
Alan Greenspan faults the U.S.'s approach in fixing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, saying the credit crisis offered an "ideal opportunity" to dismantle the mortgage giants. The former Fed chairman predicted U.S. home prices would reach their bottom in the first half of 2009.
some more quotes,
"It's the imbalance of supply and demand which causes prices to go down, but it's ultimately the valuation process of the use of the commodity...which tells you where the bottom is," Mr. Greenspan said
"We will get to the point where there will be willing holders of vacant single-family dwellings, and that will no longer act to depress the price level."
"At the Fed, Mr. Greenspan warned for years that the two mortgage giants' business model threatened the nation's financial stability. He acknowledges that a government backstop for the shareholder-owned, government-sponsored enterprises, or GSEs, was unavoidable. Not only are they crucial to the ailing mortgage market now, but the Fed-financed takeover of investment bank Bear Stearns Cos. also made government backing of Fannie and Freddie debt "inevitable," he said. "There's no credible argument for bailing out Bear Stearns and not the GSEs
I'm sorry, I love the end of this article, where he's basically like, to decrease the number of single family homes available, increase immigration of skilled workers. it just sounds so simple...
Greenspan 8/13/08 wsj
update
well, tomorrow is the first day of training, "classroom management" I need that one. I'm hoping to learn a few pointers.
Other than that, my apartment is crawling with spiders. Okay, not *that* many, but today when I opened the front door, a spider literally came crawling through, like he/she was just *waiting* at the door..scary.
In other news, the classroom I will be using at the school stills need (as of 10 days ago) the following: overhead projector, video projector, white boards, computer hookup, file cabinet, teacher's desk, white screen, and clock. Let's hope I have some equipment soon!!
the final four
days of vacation, I should clarify. Aug. 6 is Day One of the new job. Although the students don't report until later. Here are some more pictures of the palace.
what I really love is the shade. Seriously, I have not hardly even used the A/C (compared to in the O.C., where we didn't have any shade over our condo)
Here is a picture of the balcony, which has been given to the spiders. At first, I thought I would just wash the spiders away. Then I realized they were poisonous.
the palace
So, I've been preparing "the palace" By that I mean, my new apartment. For further discussion at a later date, yesterday Bush signed the mortgage relief bill, aimed at helping "15 % of homeowners" who are strapped for cash? D-CA Pelosi, "By expanding homeownership opportunities and protecting families against foreclosure, we are helping keep the American Dream alive," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. What of the "american dream" for those who are been renting all this time? Personally, I was enjoying watching the prices of homes plummet.
I digress, I love the new pad, except for the spiders. See photo below.
This, I believe, is a black widow spider which I killed on the balcony a couple of days ago. My solution to the spider on the balcony problem: tape the door to the balcony closed so the babies don't crawl in.
In other news, for those of you who think I can't organize a closet, observe closet one, my proud accomplishment.
I know--why does one woman need 4 pairs of running shoes--it's complicated.
I rotate running shoes.
