1 (edited by xeno syndicated 01-Aug-2012 22:28:11)

Re: The Cause of Financial Catastrophe: 'Home'lessness

It isn't, of course, the homeless, as in the poor, who caused the financial collapse, (although there are some who might try and blame them for it).  It was the tendency for people to be frustrated in their pursuit to establish a stable home-life which caused it.

It wasn't 'house'lessness, but rather the effect of otherwise productive people not having a stable home-life which caused it; it was the frustration of peoples' lifestyles that would otherwise have provided for a stable home-LIFE which did; it was the tendency for families to have to relocate to follow jobs from one city to another or from one part of the world to another in the pursuit of a stable JOB which caused it; it was the tendency for university graduates to have fewer prospects and the tendency for them to earn less than expected income after graduating which caused it; it was the tendency for more part-time, seasonal, or temporary contract work, or minimum wage work instead of full-time salaried jobs which caused it.  The frustration otherwise productive people is only half the story, however.

While upheaval in labor markets cause said frustrations in people's lifetsyles, the rich went on a real-estate shopping spree, buying investment properties around the world with the expectation of productivity boom, buying it for appreciation, which exasperated the unaffordability of housing for actual productive people.  Trillions of dollars were pumped into real-estate by the elite around the world, commercial and residential space to be left empty, as they expected some sort of productivity boom; yet the income of productive people who should be living and working in said real estate diminished to the point where they started foreclosing on the few properties they had gotten into.

Had people had stable employment prospects, had university grads been able to get the jobs they had expected, had there been stability in labor markets; had the elite not recklessly fueled the housing bubble to take advantage of ridiculous profiteering off rent and capital gains from reselling it to a frustrated, vagabond workforce, had corporations and governments practiced good old fashioned common sense and realised that PRODUCTIVE people needed to purchase said real-estate, not investors; had everyone realised that productive people need JOBS in order to afford HOMES, the financial crisis would never have happened.

Ultimately it was the tendency for homelessness which resulted in our current state of affairs in the economy.

Re: The Cause of Financial Catastrophe: 'Home'lessness

It was caused by Congress demanding banks make crappy loans and guaranteeing those loans and bailing out the banks when they inevitably failed as a result of those loans. People of various races don't have equal wealth and incomes, but Congress demanded that banks lend as if they did.

It was caused by investors not doing their homework and not realizing that banks had made a boatload of horrible loans at the behest of Congress.

It was caused by the fed making money (borrowing) [artificially] cheap. This contributed greatly to the massively inflated housing bubble by massively increasing demand. People were buying property with virtually no money down.

"It was the tendency for people to be frustrated in their pursuit to establish a stable home-life which caused it."

Based on what evidence? That some people are talentless idiots with rotten personalities and no moral values (aka, thieving trash incapable of normal social interactions) is not an indictment of a society.

"it was the tendency for more part-time, seasonal, or temporary contract work, or minimum wage work instead of full-time salaried jobs which caused it."

If you want to confuse a result with the problem because you don't understand the flow of time, sure.

"While upheaval in labor markets cause said frustrations in people's lifetsyles"

What upheaval? Literally everyone I know has been making ends meet by living within their means. It's not that hard. The vast majority of people in this country do it every day.

You're claiming that the cost of living for the average person caused the banking failures. But you're not providing a believable mechanic by which this supposedly happened. Housing prices were going up, but they weren't skyrocketing. And they were going up predictably. Nobody was hit with surprise property costs. Congress encouraged idiots to get houses they couldn't afford and demanded banks give out idiotic loans. Overlooking congressional action's role in the crisis in favor of pretending standard of living costs magically caused it is just ignorant.

"Bloomberg: 'Plain and simple,' Congress caused the mortgage crisis, not the banks"
http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/politics/2011/11/3971362/bloomberg-plain-and-simple-congress-caused-mortgage-crisis-not-bank/

"While upheaval in labor markets cause said frustrations in people's lifetsyles, the rich went on a real-estate shopping spree, buying investment properties around the world with the expectation of productivity boom, buying it for appreciation, which exasperated the unaffordability of housing for actual productive people."

The rich don't try to flip real estate. It's a waste of their time. I'm getting confused as to why you're offering your opinion, because it sounds like you have no idea what you're talking about.

Many middle class and upper-middle-class people invested in real estate. They did it because prices were rising. They increased demand, but they obviously weren't the sole cause. Few of them would have invested in real estate if prices weren't rising quickly to begin with.

"Had people had stable employment prospects, had university grads been able to get the jobs they had expected, had there been stability in labor markets...."

The problem stemmed from university graduates not training for fields that were hiring much? Idiot academics caused banks to fail? Gotcha. Sound logic.

"had the elite not recklessly fueled the housing bubble to take advantage of ridiculous profiteering off rent and capital gains from reselling it to a frustrated, vagabond workforce,"

Not much of it, if any, was done by anyone remotely close to being classified as "elite." You're wrong on the facts. The vast majority of the country is working, middle class, and not vagabonds. You're wrong on the facts.

"had corporations and governments practiced good old fashioned common sense and realised that PRODUCTIVE people needed to purchase said real-estate, not investors...."

Free markets, mate. Learn about them. Pros outweigh the cons. People end up getting what they want for less every time. Investors in real estate can't sell above market rates: Customers will buy from other real estate holders. That people invest in real estate doesn't magically balloon prices by itself.

"had everyone realised that productive people need JOBS in order to afford HOMES, the financial crisis would never have happened."

You're always ranting about some sort of middle-class-centric communistic ideal because you have no understanding of how capitalism benefits the middle class.

You rant about how massive taxation of wealth and incomes must occur before truly free markets, the ideal, can be achieved. Yet you ignore the fact that truly free markets result in wealth disparity because they reward the hardest working and the smartest more than the dumb and the lazy.

Free markets naturally result in wealth disparity and this is a good thing. Without unequal rewards for the most productive and innovative, production and innovation fall, prices rise, and standards of living fall. For everybody.

Wealth inequality is natural in free markets. And it's a good thing.

Your lack of understanding of capitalism doesn't equate with it causing the financial disaster.

[I wish I could obey forum rules]

Re: The Cause of Financial Catastrophe: 'Home'lessness

So I take it no one disagrees with this proposition: that the root cause was 'homelessness' in the sense that families were increasingly frustrated in establishing a 'home' - in all its multifaceted senses of the word...

If we follow this line of reasoning - that it was homelessness which caused the financial crisis - then a complete reversal of this tendency is necessary for us to 'recover' from this financial crisis: people need stable, long-term, well-paying jobs, the opportunity to spend time with the family, and a lifestyle conducive to the well-being of future generations.

Re: The Cause of Financial Catastrophe: 'Home'lessness

You have absolutely no basis for your claim that homelessness (what homelessness? the vast majority of American people have homes) caused the crisis, therefore basing conclusions on this presumption is idiotic.

[I wish I could obey forum rules]