From Bloomberg:
Home Prices Probably Rose in Year Ended May as U.S. Tax Credit Aided Sales
Home prices in 20 U.S. cities rose in May from a year earlier as a government tax credit temporarily underpinned sales, economists forecast a report to show today.
The S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values increased 3.9 percent from May 2009, according to the median of 26 projections in a Bloomberg News survey. Another report may show consumer confidence dropped in July to a five-month low.
A retreat in demand since the April 30 contract-signing deadline to be eligible for an incentive worth up to $8,000 signals home prices will slacken in coming months. Mounting foreclosures may add to the pressure on property values, pointing to decreases in home equity that will hurt consumer spending and economic growth.
“The federal homebuyers tax credit has been an important stimulus to demand and it’s unclear whether prices will remain stable once that stimulus is gone,” said Zach Pandl, an economist at Nomura Securities International Inc. in New York. “When you look at fundamentals in the housing market they still look pretty poor. You have limited demand and a lot of supply.”
The home-price figures are due at 9 a.m. New York time. Estimates ranged from increases of 2.9 percent to 5.1 percent, after a 3.8 percent gain in the 12 months to April.
From the AP:
Don’t hold your breath for a bounce in home prices
Thought the housing crisis was over? Not quite.
Despite four years of falling prices and recent signs that they were finally bottoming out, homes are expected to lose still more value in many metro areas over the next year.
Parts of the country already pummeled by the housing crisis, like Las Vegas, Phoenix and Miami, will be hit hardest. But even some places that have rebounded or held up relatively well — including New York, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. — will suffer, too.
That’s the conclusion of economists who have been reducing their estimates for home prices as the outlook for the economic recovery has darkened. The number of homes for sale or headed for foreclosure is so high that they think prices will be even lower by next July.
…
The average home price in the Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller index of 20 big U.S. cities is forecast to drop nearly 2 percent this year from a year earlier, according to the average estimate of more than 100 economists polled this month by MacroMarkets LLC.
…
Moody’s predicts that other areas — New York, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Denver, Detroit, Cleveland, Minneapolis, Tampa, Fla.; and Washington D.C. — will see declines of 2 to 8 percent by next July.
For anyone interested in the Guidice auction:
http://www.ajwillnerauctions.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.auctionDetails&AuctionID=559
I want the range, so I’d appreciate if no one else bid on it.
From HousingWire:
MIT-Harvard Study: Foreclosure drops house value by 27%
A foreclosure reduces the value of a house by 27%, on average, and accounts for a much steeper price drop than other forced sales, according to a study by an Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) economist and two Harvard University researchers.
In comparison, when a house is sold after the death of an owner, the price drops 5% to 7% on average. When an owner declares bankruptcy, the value sinks 3%, according to the report.
…
In addition, sellers trying to sell their non-distressed, occupied properties in a neighborhood that has a foreclosed home on the market will take a price hit, according to the report. The researchers estimated the value of a home drops by 1%, on average, if it is within roughly 250 feet of a foreclosed home. MIT said the paper represents the first time economists have been able to clearly quantify how much nearby foreclosures affects prices of inhabited homes.
“This can happen for multiple reasons,” Pathak said. First of all, he notes, “If you live near a foreclosed house, it may not be maintained.”
The end of Subprime 2.0? Say it ain’t so!
From HousingWire:
FHA Mortgagee Board Report Shows Approvals Withdrawn for 900+ Lenders
The Federal Housing Administration’s Mortgagee Review Board (MRB) published a notice today to announce dozens of administrative actions against FHA-approved lenders who failed to meet its requirements. The total amount of originators that used to write FHA-backed mortgages, the report shows, but are restricted from doing so today, has surpassed the 900 mark.
1. How much for her hairline?
In court papers, Joe, who owns a stucco and stone company, lists his monthly income as $3,250; Teresa pulls down $3,333 a month for her Bravo gig. The couple gets another $10,000 in “monthly assistance from family members.”
Spendaholic ‘housewife of NJ’ owes a big-hair-raising $11M
Behind the bankruptcy filing
What the Giudices make a year:
$79,000 (plus $120,000 in “assistance” from family members)
What they owe: $10,853,648.04
Credit Cards
$104,000
including $20,000 to Bloomingdale’s, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom
$1,280 monthly payment for Cadillac Escalade
Mortgages
$2.6M
for eight mortgages on three homes (two have been handed back to lenders)
$5.8M Joe’s business investments
$85,600 Home repairs
$12,000 Fertility treatments
$2,300 Phone bill
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/deadbeat_reality_8f3qwDPV2oY8s9N51fL82I#ixzz0usZql4GI
We’re really missing an opportunity by not bringing back debtors’ prisons.
Frist!
Maybe Teresa’s hubby can get a job busting kneecaps.
“thats the conclusion of economists who have been reducing their estimates for home prices ”
Correct me if I recall incorrectly but, haven’t most economic and housing estimates been incorrect — erring on the upside — the past year or two? It seems like week after week some estimates are published, then the data come out that show that things are worse than the estimates and then people express “shock” or “surprise” at the “unexpectedly-bad” numbers.
Yesterday the home builders were surprised, today it will be some economists, tomorrow, someone else. We are in a plane that was at 30,000 feet and flying at 600 mph and one engine cut out and the other is sputtering, we are just above stall speed and keep losing altitude and yet people are continually shocked and surprised by negative information and when an air current bounces us up in the air a bit we get pronouncements that it is a sign of recovery. All the whilethe tree-covered ground gets closer and closer.
It seems like the policy makers and their minions know the truth but are adfraid to admit it in public for fear that, were they honest, the population in the hinterlands would panic in the face of the truth.
So, let’s ignore the tumor, it will surely go away if we pretend it is not there.
Clot,
They would make more if she went to work on her kneecaps.
Grim,
We had our hearts set on that range but will gladly sit on our hands. After all, there are so many tasteful furnishings from which to choose.
10. She really could work the ‘hairy’ fetish thing. Be a big star. But their spending is well beyond even a star’s salary. She would break most successful people. And they aint even that.
Teresa’s brother??
http://tinyurl.com/2djzegx
jj:
for you
Rep. Barney Frank causes scene demanding discount
Last Updated: 1:54 AM, July 27, 2010
Posted: 12:38 AM, July 27, 2010
Comments: 2 | More Print
Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank caused a scene when he demanded a $1 senior discount on his ferry fare to Fire Island’s popular gay haunt, The Pines, last Friday. Frank was turned down by ticket clerks at the dock in Sayville because he didn’t have the required Suffolk County Senior Citizens ID. A witness reports, “Frank made such a drama over the senior rate that I contemplated offering him the dollar to cool down the situation.” Frank made news last year when he was spotted looking uncomfortable around a bevy of topless, well-built men at the Pines Annual Ascension Beach Party. Frank’s spokesperson confirmed to Page Six that his partner, James Ready, asked the ticket office for a regular ticket for himself and a senior ticket for Frank, “but was turned down because Frank didn’t have a resident ID.”
jj for you:
Rep. Barney Frank causes scene demanding discount
Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank caused a scene when he demanded a $1 senior discount on his ferry fare to Fire Island’s popular g-y haunt, The Pines, last Friday. Frank was turned down by ticket clerks at the dock in Sayville because he didn’t have the required Suffolk County Senior Citizens ID. A witness reports, “Frank made such a drama over the senior rate that I contemplated offering him the dollar to cool down the situation.” Frank made news last year when he was spotted looking uncomfortable around a bevy of topless, well-built men at the Pines Annual Ascension Beach Party. Frank’s spokesperson confirmed to Page Six that his partner, James Ready, asked the ticket office for a regular ticket for himself and a senior ticket for Frank, “but was turned down because Frank didn’t have a resident ID.”
Barney Frank puts you in mod?
chicagofinance says:
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
July 27, 2010 at 9:16 am
jj for you:
Rep. Barney Frank causes scene demanding discount
Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank caused a scene when he demanded a $1 senior discount on his ferry fare to Fire Island’s popular g-y haunt, The Pines, last Friday. Frank was turned down by ticket clerks at the dock in Sayville because he didn’t have the required Suffolk County Senior Citizens ID. A witness reports, “Frank made such a drama over the senior rate that I contemplated offering him the dollar to cool down the situation.” Frank made news last year when he was spotted looking uncomfortable around a bevy of t-pless, well-built men at the Pines Annual Ascension Beach Party. Frank’s spokesperson confirmed to Page Six that his partner, James Ready, asked the ticket office for a regular ticket for himself and a senior ticket for Frank, “but was turned down because Frank didn’t have a resident ID.”
No home would be complete without one of these.
http://www.ajwillnerauctions.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.viewItem&AuctionID=559&ItemID=23
SHore 10
ummm, really? she doesnt exactly seem to be a “hot commodity”! She looks OK in the highly edited pro photo’s but i woul dimagine that in real life she’s average at best.
Case-Shiller…eh.
Grim, what’s your take on the numbers? I would have expected it to have been worse than reported, but the number does still contain some leftover credit induced closings, plus the insanely low mortgage interest rates. Man, this wait blows.
It is incredible the amount of economic malaise required to crush the bullish sentiment that has accompanied the housing sector the past 10 years. Maybe we need a 10 year long recession.
anyone else excited for Obama to visit Tastee’s Subs in Edison tomm?
I certainly am not.
Lib (18)
>>Man, this wait blows.
How will you celebrate when you are saying this for the 10th year in a row?
“Man, this wait blows.”
250K,
Can’t imagine how sellers are feeling; especially those who are retiring on their gains in RE.
That’s planning on retiring.
Low mortgage rates are irrelevant.
Rates are on-par with the most furious days of the bubble, yet there is little demand.
http://www.moneyandmarkets.com/four-shocking-bombshells-bernanke-did-not-tell-congress-about-last-week-39735?FIELD9=3
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2010/07/q2-2010-homeownership-rate-lowest-since.html
CR – Home Ownership Rates Lowest Since 1999
Good Morning all…
Still in Portland – headed home….
So Grim,
What you are saying is that the lack of transactions is now causing the lack of price discovery?
http://dailyreckoning.com/let-them-eat-losses/
Let Them Eat Losses…..capitalism
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/27/debating-the-securitization-of-mortgages/
Last one: Debating the Securitization of Mortgages
25: Heard recently: The govenrment fist has replaced the invisible hand.
5: As my wife asked: Who in that family has a use for a chess set?
Cindy
Just my lay opinion, but it isnt securitization in and of itself that is the problem, but instead the BS ratings handed out by the ratings agency. Of course securitizing doomed mortgages is a guaranteed loss if you cant “buy” a AAA rating for them, as no one would buy them. It certainly seems to be a conflict of interest when you charge for a rating yet have no liability for said rating.
Cindy…Good stuff. Unfortunately, both parties have done an excellent job ensuring that us crumb-eaters would have been much worse off if we didn’t bail out Wall Street. Must get back to watching America’s Got Talent.
The whole concept of our current rating system is a giant conflict of interest.
Stu – 33
The whole concept of our current rating system is a giant conflict of interest.
Agreed…
Remember this CA fiasco…BOOOO……take a hike
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-07-26-california-council-salaries_N.htm
Anyone else watching what our favorite metal is doing today?
“ummm, really? she doesnt exactly seem to be a hot commodity
She is not even mildly warm. That said, she could make up for her lack of hotness doing volume business.
The WalMart approach to things.
Outofstater: down $21. is the dollar up? market appears to be hiccuping at the moment.
Like Wantan says, gonna be a long walk home.
Like the Ramones say, twenty twenty twenty-four hrs to go-o-o-… I wanna be sedated….
Just 14 hrs for me…. I’m off to the Pit.
sl
Shore, 36
ewwwwwwww. just plain ewww.
Ugh.
sl
re #29 – Cindy – Authors like that one need to have the following disclaimer in a footnote, “The economic roller coaster you are riding has been presented to you by your friendly neighborhood Keynesians.”
The Guidices couldn’t get Snooki and The Situation to co-sign? Surely that should be able to bring another $10 million line of credit.
how could you ever tell if that house was clean? Ack, so much busy, busy, bizzzzzzzzzzzzzzy. You could throw a box of broken Ritz crackers out onto any room and you would never notice unless you sit or stepped on them.
Shore (9)-
It’s not the panic they fear. It’s the action that John Q would take- collectively- that rattles their bones at night. I, for one, can’t wait to join in.
“It seems like the policy makers and their minions know the truth but are afraid to admit it in public for fear that, were they honest, the population in the hinterlands would panic in the face of the truth.”
Shore (10)-
I’d rather get blown by an overweight woodchuck (which she kinda resembles, I guess).
“They would make more if she went to work on her kneecaps.”
I am surprised, however, that Teresa hasn’t fielded offers to be in a skin flick.
Home Buyer Tax Credit = Temporarily Inflated Home Prices and Sales Numbers.
Ben (19)-
Look at Japan. 20 years of recession, and they still keep hoping and pushing on a string.
I said this in 2008-09 here and was shouted down…..
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Sorkin-Some-Backup-for-nytimes-245405117.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=8&asset=&ccode=
For a good many years, the actions of our economic policy makers has struck me as being like am all-time-classic science cartoon I saw years ago. Before a blackboard scrawled with math symbols stand two scientists. The left side of the board has a host of numbers and operators, the right side of the board has more of the same and an equals sign and a result. In the middle, is written, “and then a miracle occurs.”
We seem to keep awaiting some divine intervention.
shore (48)-
Absent divine intervention, an intervention of .223 would be acceptable to me.
Chi,
I am not saying you are right or wrong. I am only saying consider the source of the article and the delay in the revealing of the the documentation by GS.
I heard through the grapevince..in Oct..Merck will give the ax to 16,000 employees.
approx 30% of that 16K will be in Rahway, NJ.
Thats going to hurt.
SAS
I would take a POS crapshack in Montklair (with a 20K tax bill) over this disaster:
DES MOINES, Iowa – Acres of mud strewn with dead fish greeted hundreds of eastern Iowa residents Monday after a weekend dam break left their lakefront properties overlooking little more than a small stream.
The Lake Delhi dam in Delaware County gave way under the rapidly rising Maquoketa River on Saturday, decimating the nine-mile-long lake and adjacent property values.
“The water’s gone, dead fish are laying there on the bottom — it’s a pretty nasty looking scene,” said Irv Janey of Marion, who owns a condominium on Lake Delhi. “It was a beautiful recreation area and to see it drained, it just makes you sick.”
Heavy rains last week forced the river to unprecedented levels, causing earthen portions of the dam to collapse and sending a torrent of water rushing downstream. The concrete section of the dam remained intact, but the swollen river damaged about half the 1,000 homes and cabins above it. The lake quickly emptied.
“We have over $100 million in homes on the lake and none of them are worth what they were when they had water in front of them,” said Jim Willey, director of the Lake Delhi Recreation Association. “You have a home with a lake or a home with a mud flat.
“What might have been a $500,000 house is probably worth only a quarter of what it once was.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_missing_iowa_lake
sas (51)-
Eventually, a whole lot of people are going to be living in their cars.
Teresa looked just like a tramp from Long Island
And in the back room she was everybodies’ darling
But she never lost her head
Even when she was deep in debt
She said
Hey babe
I’m a minor TV celeb
She said
Hey darlin’
Buy my couch, cause I need the bread
And her husband says
Do do do da do da do do do
The other song just BEGGING to be satairized to poke fun at Teresa and company is, Eurotrash Girl.
And I searched the world over
for a Jersey Trash Girl
I suspect Lou Reed will be skulking around the bushes by my front door to chew me out for #54. But, hey, he will get over it.
“For a good many years, the actions of our economic policy makers has struck me as being like am all-time-classic science cartoon I saw years ago. Before a blackboard scrawled with math symbols stand two scientists. The left side of the board has a host of numbers and operators, the right side of the board has more of the same and an equals sign and a result. In the middle, is written, “and then a miracle occurs.””
Unfortunately, economic policy makers think they are scientists. Einstein and company didn’t put any faith in their equations until they were verified and reproduced consistently with experimentation. Our economists construct models which are already worthless when back tested against past economic data that they conveniently ignore. They believe economic history started in 1929. They believe an economy consists of two islands, a turnpike, and five guys named “Jack”, one of whom is the government, yet no one knows it. They can solve all kinds of complicated mathematical puzzles without actually understanding how the real world works.
might take my kids to Point Pleasant tonight. Will have to prepare myself for the brown saggy knees with belly chain with green splotch tattoos with long (!) toenails with french tips with scant clothing 2X too small with belly rolls with fats kids onslaught. Say what you will about “Jersey Shore”, the reality is even worse.
“DES MOINES, Iowa Acres of mud strewn with dead fish greeted hundreds of eastern Iowa residents Monday after a weekend dam break left their lakefront properties overlooking little more than a small ”
If it keeps on raining
The Levee’s gonna fail
If it keeps on raining
The Levee’s gonna fail
If the Levee breaks
I’ll have no place to live
I hate going to the shore in NJ, except for 1-2 spots on LBI where you don’t have to deal with a bunch of 3-chromosome human train wrecks.
I need to get back to LBI. Haven’t been since I was in HS.
http://www.nj.com/news/local/index.ssf/2010/07/charges_upgraded_against_teens.html
3 Teens in Summit murder a 47 year old man July 17? The police dept/town didn’t release info for 3 days. Wow. Pre-internet they probably could have gone 3 years without acknowledging it.
Barb,
LBI never changes. That’s the real charm of it. Steer clear of Beach Haven and it’s really bliss.
Lib.stu,
I grew up with south jersey beaches, Ocean City, Cape May – beautiful! North jersey is a dump, beach wise but I remember LBI and loved it.
Doom 52 – I offer you:
2785655 LP $450k Taxes $16,114
2784382 LP $464k Taxes $15,756
276938 LP $499,999 Taxes $17,047
2771403 LP $675k Taxes $19,991
2762455 LP $729k Taxes $20,074
2744375 LP $739,500 Taxes $21,721
2572595 LP $750,000 Taxes $45,734
2699819 LP $795k Taxes $25,033
2744342 LP $829k Taxes $28,001
Anyone who buys a 450K house with a 16K tax bill deserves whatever comes next.
“Anyone who buys a 450K house with a 16K tax bill deserves whatever comes next.”
big D, and he doesn’t mean Dallas.
SAS
RayC.
The news story mentioned the race of the victim, I didn’t catch the race of the suspects in the article. They did mention that one was a R&B hip hop “artist” who went by the name of Robby Guarantee. A quick browse online connected me to some lousy music. Anyone notice that hip hop music often discusses killing and f*cking people? Robby’s seems to focus on the f*cking part, though the music drove me away from listening to a complete selection of his works.
A West
if only society hadn’t failed these young men you had such potential for a bright future.
The article did not discuss the race of the perps, but one quick glance at the names and a little racial profiling will take you home. Speaking of what’s in a name, the cashiers at the Bloomfield Shoprite all have crazy names. Last time we had Jihad ring us up. Last night it was Delisha. I’m still waiting for Liptessa.
Thugs like these kids are why summary trials and public executions were invented.
We can only hope that Jihad and Liptessa are the first infantry on site after we pop an airburst over Teheran.
Tips for staying afloat and avoiding the underwater mortgage
New Jersey’s roughly 48,000 REALTORS® are among the resources available for those in danger of, or currently experiencing mortgage payment difficulties. As experts in the housing market, REALTORS® can help homeowners determine the current value of their home and identify the programs that might be available to improve their situation.
Be careful. Consumers should only deal with certified counselors, legitimate government entities or REALTORS® who are knowledgeable in addressing financial difficulties.
Residents of Union County are encouraged to visit REALstoryNJ.com/realtor_search or contact the Greater Union County Association of REALTORS® office at 908-232-9000 to find a local REALTOR® who can help address any questions or concerns regarding retaining their home.
http://www.nj.com/suburbannews/index.ssf/2010/07/tips_for_staying_afloat_and_av.html
[48] shore
I remember that one. One of my favorites.
Doom 71
Or Shall Issue concealed carry laws. It makes wilding a much riskier proposition for the would-be perpetrator
Doom,
From the article there was apparently a group of other kids/people watching the whole thing go down.
Hyde – unsettling to know that 2x as many kids present at that ‘execution’ are still milling around town. sounded like gang stuff when i first heard about it, but i’m no expert.
Sounds like it’s time to go hunting for humans.
58: Barb,
Sounds like when we went to Mountain Creek a couple weeks ago, aka the land of really bad tattoos. You’re right, makes the Jersey Shore crew look like Phi Beta Kappa.
Doom 78
You have to eat what you kill.
Given those on the board had 1m+ they were going to sink into home which hugged the downtown area with close proximity to train, would an event like this (62) cause anyone to think twice about the location?
Re: Relo [79];
“Sounds like when we went to Mountain Creek a couple weeks ago”
Tangent alert – I had heard about the old (tr)Action Park re-opening under a new name. After being closed for nearly a generation, few people remember how dangerous the place was.
Fortunately, a number of congressmen requested that the General Accountability Office (GAO) investigate and report information on criminal aliens incarcerated in federal and state prisons and local jails. The resulting GAO report, published in April 2005, revealed that illegal aliens make up 27% of the prison population. (The oft-cited figure of 12 million illegal aliens in the country means that they make up just 4% of the general population.)
Since illegal aliens are unlikely to be committing white-collar crimes, that figure likely underestimates the amount of violent crime committed by illegal aliens. Using the GAO report, Representative Steve King of Iowa points out that 25 Americans, on average, are killed by illegal aliens every day (about evenly split between motor vehicle accidents and outright murder).
Do the math: That works out to more than 9,000 deaths per year, or more than 36,000 deaths over the past four years. That’s more than ten times the number of Americans killed in Iraq over the past four years!
Oddly, I’ve seen people in my hometown protesting against the war in Iraq, but I’ve never seen anyone protesting against the illegal alien invasion that is killing tens of thousands of Americans right here on our own soil
Unfortunately, if we deported these illegal aliens we would have to layoff prison guards which would adversly impact our unemployment numbers.
Nice article thrashing all state govt regarding Muni debt bomb. NJ right and center of this article.
http://www.city-journal.org/2010/20_3_muni-bonds.html
confused (83)-
We shouldn’t deport illegal aliens. We should shoot them on the spot.
Even replicating what Maricopa Co, AZ does would have all these illegals running back home pronto.
Of course, illegals provide cheap labor for one interest group and a massive voter constituency for another. We will allow them to run roughshod over what’s left of value in this country.
Lately, I have the feeling we should just let them have it.
[84] newbie
As one that worked on the periphery of this area, it is a good article, and the prescriptions are pretty common-sense. Unfortunately, the regulator here is the IRS, and if munis have been used to fund stadiums and other for-profit ventures through various forms of ledgerdemain, it is the IRS that has blessed these arrangements.
I don’t blame the IRS though; they have masters themselves, and ultimately, it is the Congresscritters that tell IRS what the law says (especially if there are some stadiums to finance in their state). The coming pain is so obvious and unavoidable that I don’t understand why the folks in Idaho, Montana, Nebraska and Wyoming don’t “go Clot” and send hit teams to New York to kill the likes of Schumer, Clinton, Mikulski, and a few other of the bigger offenders.
(FWIW, folks like to postulate on Texas seceding over guns or immigration or something, but if it ever happens, it will be the Mountain states and Alaska seceding over the debt and the exacerbation of their donor state status. Of course, things will be so bad nationally at that point, we won’t much care).
Some doom in the Afternoon!
The Year America Dissolved
By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS
It was 2017. Clans were governing America.
The first clans organized around local police forces. The conservatives’ war on crime during the late 20th century and the Bush/Obama war on terror during the first decade of the 21st century had resulted in the police becoming militarized and unaccountable.
As society broke down, the police became warlords. The state police broke apart, and
the officers were subsumed into the local forces of their communities. The newly formed tribes expanded to encompass the relatives and friends of the police.
The dollar had collapsed as world reserve currency in 2012 when the worsening economic depression made it clear to Washington’s creditors that the federal budget deficit was too large to be financed except by the printing of money.
With the dollar’s demise, import prices skyrocketed. As Americans were unable to afford foreign-made goods, the transnational corporations that were producing offshore for US markets were bankrupted, further eroding the government’s revenue base.
The government was forced to print money in order to pay its bills, causing domestic prices to rise rapidly. Faced with hyperinflation, Washington took recourse in terminating Social Security and Medicare and followed up by confiscating the remnants of private pensions. This provided a one-year respite, but with no more resources to confiscate, money creation and hyperinflation resumed.
Organized food deliveries broke down when the government fought hyperinflation with fixed prices and the mandate that all purchases and sales had to be in US paper currency. Unwilling to trade appreciating goods for depreciating paper, goods disappeared from stores.
Washington responded as Lenin had done during the “war communism” period of Soviet history. The government sent troops to confiscate goods for distribution in kind
to the population. This was a temporary stop-gap until existing stocks were depleted, as future production was discouraged. Much of the confiscated stocks became the property of the troops who seized the goods.
Goods reappeared in markets under the protection of local warlords. Transactions were conducted in barter and in gold, silver, and copper coins.
Other clans organized around families and individuals who possessed stocks of food, bullion, guns and ammunition. Uneasy alliances formed to balance differences in clan strengths. Betrayals quickly made loyalty a necessary trait for survival.
Large scale food and other production broke down as local militias taxed distribution as goods moved across local territories. Washington seized domestic oil production and refineries, but much of the government’s gasoline was paid for safe passage across clan territories.
Most of the troops in Washington’s overseas bases were abandoned. As their resource stocks were drawn down, the abandoned soldiers were forced into alliances with those with whom they had been fighting.
Washington found it increasingly difficult to maintain itself. As it lost control over the country, Washington was less able to secure supplies from abroad as tribute from those Washington threatened with nuclear attack. Gradually other nuclear powers realized that the only target in America was Washington. The more astute saw the writing on the wall and slipped away from the former capital city.
When Rome began her empire, Rome’s currency consisted of gold and silver coinage. Rome was well organized with efficient institutions and the ability to supply troops in the field so that campaigns could continue indefinitely, a monopoly in the world of Rome’s time.
When hubris sent America in pursuit of overseas empire, the venture coincided with the offshoring of American manufacturing, industrial, and professional service jobs and the corresponding erosion of the government’s tax base, with the advent of massive budget and trade deficits, with the erosion of the fiat paper currency’s value, and with America’s dependence on foreign creditors and puppet rulers.
The Roman Empire lasted for centuries. The American one collapsed overnight.
Rome’s corruption became the strength of her enemies, and the Western Empire was overrun.
America’s collapse occurred when government ceased to represent the people and became the instrument of a private oligarchy. Decisions were made in behalf of short-term profits for the few at the expense of unmanageable liabilities for the many.
Overwhelmed by liabilities, the government collapsed.
Globalism had run its course. Life reformed on a local basis.
Paul Craig Roberts was an editor of the Wall Street Journal and an Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury.
Some Doom in the Afternoon!
http://www.counterpunch.org/roberts07262010.html
82: Yeah, my BIL and I were talking about that recently. Our town had a summer “rec” system and this was one of the day trpis each year. Everyone looked forward to it. Neither of those vestiges of our youth would fly with the PS3 set of today. Another example of how we’ve turned our kids into veal in the name of pc.
Juice (88)-
I’m just maneuvering to be one of those warlords. It’s gonna get ugly, but I think I can force enough loyalty and extract enough tribute from those wishing to enter my territory to survive.
A lot of this will simply come down to who can lose their conscience first…and lose it so completely that survival is the only aim.
plume (87)-
Good idea. Add Rangel, Pelosi, Frank and Kerry to that list, and you’ve cleaned up a helluva big mess if it can be pulled off.
“I don’t understand why the folks in Idaho, Montana, Nebraska and Wyoming don’t “go Clot” and send hit teams to New York to kill the likes of Schumer, Clinton, Mikulski, and a few other of the bigger offenders.”
The next headline we see will be Maradona in rehab in Cuba.
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP)—Diego Maradona is no longer the coach of Argentina.
The Argentine Football Association said Tuesday that it would not renew Maradona’s contract, ending his erratic 21-month stint in charge of the national team that had mirrored his own long personal history of unpredictable behavior and defiance.
The AFA had offered him a four-year contract to continue through to the 2014 World Cup, but Maradona said he would only stay if his entire staff remained.
That was an unacceptable condition to AFA president Julio Grondona, who wanted to replace several assistants including Maradona’s close friend, Alejandro Mancuso.
The AFA executive committee sided with Grondona on Tuesday, ending Maradona’s tenure.
85.Final Doom says:
July 27, 2010 at 4:28 pm
confused (83)-
We shouldn’t deport illegal aliens. We should shoot them on the spot.
Even replicating what Maricopa Co, AZ does would have all these illegals running back home pronto
No, we need to clone them to provide full prison guard employment.
This is one nice little ditty. I’m gonna post it for all the human beings out there who turn up their stereos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XBabozrPGA&feature=avmsc2
The end is nigh………….Jersey Shore GTL Index…
http://www.cnbc.com/id/38436017
newbs: It is not that hard to figure this out. If you f’up muni investments, you deserve it. Most of this stuff is telegraphed from 100 yards away. It may come across as muckraking, but it is really more Internet psuedo-journalism….
86.newbie says:
July 27, 2010 at 3:46 pm
Nice article thrashing all state govt regarding Muni debt bomb. NJ right and center of this article.
http://www.city-journal.org/2010/20_3_muni-bonds.html
“New MTA hikes are on track
Straphangers given fare warning for 2011”
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/new_mta_hikes_are_on_track_Rioa3gWV1TUJQS3uwYnxoJ#ixzz0uw6XkDDl
These Hanson boys grew up to be rabbits. There’s 12 little Hanson kids running around backstage. Ugh.
LBI is fine BUT IBSP blows it away for solitude and beach. If one goes below the guarded beaches — the “lower area — it can be like having a private beach.
Island Beach State park, that is.
“New MTA hikes are on track
Straphangers given fare warning for 2011”
Good! It is about bloody time. As one who has to pay a special tax applied to every partnership that has any operation at all in NY, anything they can do to reduce the need for my money, works for me.
NJC,
Do they play anything one can stand to hear without first injesting a few painkillers?
“12 little Hanson kids running around”
Are they LDS, does anyone know?
Mexican vacation anyone? This comes via the BBC:
ght human heads have been found in four locations outside the northern Mexican city of Durango.
The victims were men believed to have been aged between 25 and 30, the local prosecutor’s office said.
Police found the heads after anonymous tip-offs, but had not identified the victims or found the bodies, the Durango state prosecutor’s office said.
The state of Durango has been the scene of clashes in recent months between the rival Gulf and Sinaloa drug cartels.
Police received tip-offs that two human heads had been dumped on three roads out of Durango, the AFP news agency reported.
Workers cleaning a traffic island found the remaining two on a road leading north to the industrial city of Gomez Palacio, AFP reported.
‘Contract killings’
State prosecutors have accused officials at a prison in Gomez Palacio of releasing inmates to carry out drug-related killings.
snip
Eight heads, that is.
Shore,
Our very own little ethiopia in the making!
Great site. A lot of useful information here. I’m sending it to some friends!