YOUR SAY
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Are we likely to see more towns like Narvik, suffering from the sub-prime crisis?
WHAT'S NEW...
- Video - Watch Online
-
-
- World News Australia Stories
- Your Say
-
-
Will Alaskan governor Sarah Palin make or break the Republicans' presidential campaign?
"I am the producer of KCRW's Left, Right "
-
What are your thoughts on poverty in Afghanistan?
"It is true that people in Afghanistan get richer or poorer . The most important thing which is mi..."
-
How do you think Barack Obama is handling the election campaign?
"who is ron paul? "
-
The culprits responsible for the tech bubble where the auditors, e.g. Arthur Anderson. The culprits responsible for the subprime bubble where the credit rating agencies. Please do a story on Moody's and Stand and Poor's failures.
Well in my humble opinion, I believe that given the uncertainty the financial market has been undergoing in recent days, more towns will fall victim to the sub-prime crisis; Ultra capitalism and Greedy brokers are two main factors that contribute vastly to this crisis and I hope that changes are made so that none of this poppycock is repeated in the future.
We are all living in a very small world and greed is a universal condition. Will we be better of when China is the world\'s dominant financial power broker?
Hi finance. High stakes. Ultra capitalism. Greedy brokers. We need to change the system before the system takes over. Hollywood has given us Terminator where the machines take over and The Matrix where the computers take over. American-style capitalism based in New York is the real threat.
United States Ron Paul: The House passed two bills attempting to rehabilitate the housing and mortgage market this week. There doesn't seem to be any shortage of criticism and blame for the bad decisions, and rightly so. Lenders and banks do share much of the blame for the overheated market. Lending standards were relaxed, or even abandoned altogether, creating an exaggerated pool of homebuyers that led to ballooning home prices that many, especially real estate investors, expected to continue forever. Now that the bubble has burst, the losses are staggering. However, many in Washington fail to realize it was government intervention that brought on the current economic malaise in the first place. The Federal Reserve’s artificially low interest rates created the loose, easy credit that ignited a voracious appetite in the banks for borrowers. People made these lending and buying decisions based on market conditions that were wildly manipulated by government. But part of sound financial management should be recognizing untenable or falsified economic conditions and adjusting risk accordingly. Many banks failed to do that and are now looking to taxpayers to pick up the pieces. This is wrong-headed and unfair, but Congress is attempting to do it anyway. These housing bills address the crisis in exactly the wrong way, by seeking to hide the problem with more disastrous government bail-outs and interventions. One measure, HR 5830 the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Housing Stabilization and Homeowner Retention Act would allow the FHA to guarantee as much as $300 billion worth of refinanced home loans for those facing threat of foreclosure. HR 5818 the Neighborhood Stabilization Act, would provide $15 billion in loans and grants to localities to purchase and renovate foreclosed homes with the object of then selling or renting out those homes. Thankfully, President Bush has vowed to veto both of these bills. It is neither morally right nor fiscally wise to socialize private losses in this way. The solution is for government to stop micromanaging the economy and let the market adjust, as painful as that will be for some. We should not force taxpayers, including renters and more frugal homeowners, to switch places with the speculators and take on those same risks that bankrupted them. It is a terrible idea to spread the financial crisis any wider or deeper than it already is, and to prolong the agony years into the future. Socializing the losses now will only create more unintended consequences that will give new excuses for further government interventions in the future. This is how government grows – by claiming to correct the mistakes it earlier created, all the while constantly shaking down the taxpayer. The market needs a chance to correct itself, and Congress needs to avoid making the situation worse by pretending to ride to the rescue.
Yes, we will see more rip-offs. As long as people of the world fail to see the U.S. financial system will swindle anyone who trusts them. They will export the debt from their lending mistakes to corporations with irresponsible managers who can personally gain while stakeholders lose. A warning was obivious in a 4 corners program which showed how ownership of hard earned capital assets belonging to the population of the former USSR ended up in US hands.
with our budget? no way! .. not
sub prime will affect all in one way or another
Can't wait to watch your program. I look forward to Dateline or someone doing some investigative journalism on those big fellas involved. Someone thought he had a bright idea to make money and the lot on Wall Street got together to orchestrate it. Firing the head (he got rewarded anyway) is just trying to hide the problem.
I will watch your show with great interest tonight George.While very intersted in sub-prime fallout (personal finances mainly),I will be in Narvik in 3 weeks time.Your photos are magnigicent,but you look a little too well rugged up for my liking!