Comments on: Architects of Ruin – by David Forsmark

By: Kill Bill, Vol. 1: Meltdown with Keith Olbermann Part 21 | NewsReal Blog

Kill Bill, Vol. 1: Meltdown with Keith Olbermann Part 21 | NewsReal Blog — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 22:14:21 +0000

[...] This is the same thing community activists and their lackeys in Congress did to the banking system. [...]

By: “Stop making our Troops Suffer in Order to make our generals happy.” Meltdown with Keith Olbermann Part 18 « NewsReal Blog

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 16:01:01 +0000

[...] 30 years ago, Republicans deployed ACORN, Jesse Jackson, and Barney Frank to attack banking standards in the name of racial eq… in order to bankrupt the economy so that a future liberal messiah would be constrained in his [...]

By: philbest

philbest — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:50:55 +0000

Thanks for that response, David. But Randal O'Toole's study points out that the number of urban areas in the USA with urban limits is growing; and the peak and trough of prices in each boom and bust in each of these areas is growing more and more severe in relationship to the encroachment of these limits. His evidence is persuasive, that each boom and bust in the USA will be contributed to in larger and larger amounts, by more and more regions, unless the spread of planning mania is reversed.

This phenomenon is paralleled in other countries as the urban limit planning mania has taken hold.

I will be gratified if I can get any influential writers such as yourself, taking this issue as seriously as it deserves. Wendell Cox, Joseph Gyourko, and Edward Glaeser are other standouts on this subject. The list of people who saw the current crisis coming, is a short one. The people who identify the land supply issue as important, is even shorter. This does not mean they are wrong. I think they are the lonely few who have it completely right.

By: davidforsmark

davidforsmark — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:22:55 +0000

Environmental regulations that make it hard to redevelop cities also played a role. But, of course, the biggest problem is that the majority of liberal run cities are simply unliveable and anyone who can afford to gets the heck out.

By: philbest

philbest — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:00:06 +0000

Good on you, David, for giving some attention to this important subject. You are quite right about the points Thomas Sowell makes, that this book does not, about environmental regulations and their role in driving house prices up.

If I could urge you and everybody else to read just ONE thing on this subject, PLEASE read Randal O'Toole's "How Urban Planners Caused the Housing Bubble"

http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10570

Please read the whole report, not just the introductory note on the web page. This analysis is of devastating importance to the US economy. Read it and freak out.

By: 080

080 — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:16:38 +0000

I'm sure that this was a part of it. But I still remember an article in the Wall Street Journal in l988 entitled something like the twin deficits are a blessing. He was referring to the deficits in the Federal Budget and the trade deficit. We have been running the economy on these deficits for about twenty years. In the final analysis even though Friedman explained clearly why he thought these deficits were a blessing he has been proven wrong in the long run. As far as I can see we are still running the economy on these deficits. For how much longer I can't say.

By: Name

Name — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:19:58 +0000

Right, the poor mega-banks got pulled into risky lending by the left! Really, they just wanted to make nice, safe loans and maintain a low but steady rate of profit, they wanted regulation to control their greedy impulses ... Damn those all powerful poor people!

Yea, and Bill Gates wants you to buy a Mac.

New York Times
November 11, 2009
Senate Plan Would Expand Regulation of Risky Lending
By STEPHEN LABATON
WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Senate banking committee on Tuesday proposed to dramatically overhaul the regulatory system by consolidating bank agencies, creating a consumer financial protection agency and imposing new restraints on exotic financial instruments and credit rating agencies.
The 1,136-page plan by Senator Christopher J. Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, differs in major respects from both the White House and House plans. Even before it was made public, it had encountered sharp resistance from Republicans and powerful business interests in Washington.

By: davidforsmark

davidforsmark — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:16:21 +0000

Davarino! Got called that myself a few times at the height of Rob Schneider's popularity…
Excellent point. Ultimately, we got to the point where people who bought houses with cheap money used the inflated value to use their house like a savings account and “withdrew” equity to spend on lifestyle stuff. Now those people want government help or to renegotiate their mortgages because they were “victimized” by “predatory lending” or merely of the bad economy, either way, it's spun as not their own fault.

By: davarino

davarino — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:52:55 +0000

The leftists in government are using Wall Street's greed to destroy us. Wait, check that, I just realized its not only Wall Street, its all of us. We all thought we were getting free money, well its not. Oh thank you caring liberals for giving us the free money. The next step in this process, after the economy is ruined, will be for these commie libs to say “see, capitalism doesnt work, we need to switch to something better”. Hmmm I wonder what that might be. Our only way out is to vote people into office that support the constitution. It will be painful but we have a lot of crap to undo. We have to remember, we are always at war with enemies, both domestic and abroad. They will never be vanquished forever, only held in check.

By: Robert Bernier

Robert Bernier — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:44:21 +0000

Better see it before it's pulled.

Without comments…

No one should miss this video:

http://xrl.us/bf29mb

Look to the end ( 10 min.)