http://allfinancialmatters.com/2007/08/30/crisis-council-from-ben-stein-good-stuff/ A personal finance blog dedicated to discussing such topics as budgeting, asset allocation, 401K, IRA, cash flow, insurance, financial planning, portfolio management, and other areas in personal finance. Sat, 11 Feb 2012 20:32:19 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= http://allfinancialmatters.com/2007/08/30/crisis-council-from-ben-stein-good-stuff/comment-page-1/#comment-135076 maxconfus Fri, 31 Aug 2007 17:52:16 +0000 http://allfinancialmatters.com/2007/08/30/crisis-council-from-ben-stein-good-stuff/#comment-135076 I think Ben is right on. Sure their will be job losses but there will be gains too. Instead of carpenters doing new-con they will be doing home repairs; and at reasonable rates again. Instead of mortgage brokers making loans they will be consulting people about debt. Overblown. I think Ben is right on. Sure their will be job losses but there will be gains too. Instead of carpenters doing new-con they will be doing home repairs; and at reasonable rates again. Instead of mortgage brokers making loans they will be consulting people about debt. Overblown.

]]> http://allfinancialmatters.com/2007/08/30/crisis-council-from-ben-stein-good-stuff/comment-page-1/#comment-135042 Eric Fri, 31 Aug 2007 15:26:26 +0000 http://allfinancialmatters.com/2007/08/30/crisis-council-from-ben-stein-good-stuff/#comment-135042 In addition to what Easy E says, I think that with the inevitable tightening of the lending practices, and fewer people qualifying for home mortgages, there may be another ripple through the homebuilder and construction areas. The effects might not be huge, and I agree with Ben's analysis that the sub-prime mess may be a little overblown, but there is no telling yet how much of an impact this will have on the rest of the economy. It will be more telling when the ARM rates are reset here in the near future. In addition to what Easy E says, I think that with the inevitable tightening of the lending practices, and fewer people qualifying for home mortgages, there may be another ripple through the homebuilder and construction areas. The effects might not be huge, and I agree with Ben’s analysis that the sub-prime mess may be a little overblown, but there is no telling yet how much of an impact this will have on the rest of the economy. It will be more telling when the ARM rates are reset here in the near future.

]]> http://allfinancialmatters.com/2007/08/30/crisis-council-from-ben-stein-good-stuff/comment-page-1/#comment-134835 indio Fri, 31 Aug 2007 02:21:18 +0000 http://allfinancialmatters.com/2007/08/30/crisis-council-from-ben-stein-good-stuff/#comment-134835 I usually enjoy Ben Stein's humor and his segments on CBS Sunday morning. But he is not looking at the big picture. This isn't just about subprime mortgage, it's the whole issue with M&A activity, hedge funds, credit, etc. Check out this blogger's take on the world http://blog.greenwichfinancial.com/2007/08/divergence-and-convergence.html I usually enjoy Ben Stein’s humor and his segments on CBS Sunday morning. But he is not looking at the big picture. This isn’t just about subprime mortgage, it’s the whole issue with M&A activity, hedge funds, credit, etc. Check out this blogger’s take on the world
http://blog.greenwichfinancial.com/2007/08/divergence-and-convergence.html

]]> http://allfinancialmatters.com/2007/08/30/crisis-council-from-ben-stein-good-stuff/comment-page-1/#comment-134653 Easy E Thu, 30 Aug 2007 19:36:21 +0000 http://allfinancialmatters.com/2007/08/30/crisis-council-from-ben-stein-good-stuff/#comment-134653 I didn't read the article yet, but here's the problem with Ben Stein’s thinking. It is not just the losses on those foreclosed houses that we need to worry about. Many mortgage originators have suffered from this whole mess and have folded. That translates into job loses, those job losses translate into decreased spending in the economy as a whole. Poor lending practices are being corrected which means mortgages and HELOC's are harder to come buy, meaning decreased borrowing and decreased spending. Decreased spending means fewer new jobs or even a contraction. And let's not forget about leverage. Hedge funds have levereged everything in order to produce huge gains with minimal investment, but the sword cuts both ways and you get what is unfolding now, enourmous losses on what Ben Stein considers a small piece of the pie. It's all connected. If the mortgage industry was in a bubble separated from the rest of the economy, perhaps Ben Stein would be correct. But it's not, and he's not. Easy credit caused the Great Depression and it will cause the next one too. I didn’t read the article yet, but here’s the problem with Ben Stein’s thinking. It is not just the losses on those foreclosed houses that we need to worry about. Many mortgage originators have suffered from this whole mess and have folded. That translates into job loses, those job losses translate into decreased spending in the economy as a whole. Poor lending practices are being corrected which means mortgages and HELOC’s are harder to come buy, meaning decreased borrowing and decreased spending. Decreased spending means fewer new jobs or even a contraction. And let’s not forget about leverage. Hedge funds have levereged everything in order to produce huge gains with minimal investment, but the sword cuts both ways and you get what is unfolding now, enourmous losses on what Ben Stein considers a small piece of the pie. It’s all connected. If the mortgage industry was in a bubble separated from the rest of the economy, perhaps Ben Stein would be correct. But it’s not, and he’s not. Easy credit caused the Great Depression and it will cause the next one too.

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