Category Archives: Economic trends

The Price of Ignorance

Hear no evil, speak no evil, and see no evil. Should that be the new slogan of the U.S. general public, as we allow our politicians to rip apart the economy of our country? While we know that most politicians ignore reality, history, and basic math, the American public seems to do much of the same. When it comes to Congress and a select group of wealthy influencers, the reason for them preferring ignorance among the masses is for wealth and power. With the public, I would contend that the main reason is mental laziness, and that applies across regions, Read More

Fake Recovery Means Little Reform — Mortgage Notes

Over the past several years, the U.S. has emerged from the depths of a recession to a full-fledged fake recovery.  On the housing side, real estate investors, buyers of mortgage notes, and Wall Street have seen the good ‘ol days return as home prices zoom once again.  In earlier articles in this space, I’ve discussed at length why this recovery is not real and has been orchestrated by huge amounts of government spending.  This spending and poor financial leadership at the highest levels seems to be leading to an entirely new bubble. However, there is another big downside to this Read More

Commercial Note Buyer — Extend and Pretend Again

We’re bubbling over yet again!  On the surface, the economy looks reasonably strong with home prices and the stock market soaring, retail sales climbing, and unemployment slowly declining.  You and I, as people who like to peek under the media veil, know that the foundation underlying the economy could hardly be weaker.  Government spending of money that it doesn’t have is supporting a huge swath of the economy (e.g.  90% of the housing market).  We don’t know when this superficial recovery will be snuffed out and reality will return, but there is no question that it will happen.  As one Read More

The Wages of Unemployment

The article below appeared in the Wall Street Journal last week and was written by Richard Vedder.  While it does not directly impact mortgage buyers or owning real estate notes, it is an interesting commentary about the effect of government handouts.  Reprinted with permission. From the mid-17th century to the late 20th century, the American economy grew roughly 3.5% a year. That growth rate has since declined significantly. When the final figures are in for 2012, the annual rate of real output growth for the first dozen years of this century is likely to be about 1.81%. What accounts for Read More

Brown and Gray in California

Although this article does not deal directly with real estate, mortgage notes, or mortgage note buyers, overall economic conditions and state regulations affect all of these areas and more.  I share the information below to make the readers aware of what is happening in California and the path that we are heading down.  Leading up to the election a few weeks ago, Californians experienced a barrage of TV advertising and seemingly signs on every street corner telling us to vote for Proposition 30, which would raise the sales tax ¼ percent-point and increase the income tax for anyone making over Read More