December 2011
4 posts
6 tags
WatchScott Pelley of 60 Minutes investigates the issue of foreclosed and vacant homes.
In good times, the housing industry comprises about 5-6 percent of our nation’s GDP and is historically what leads the economy out of recession. The Federal Reserve lowers interest rates, mortgages become cheaper, and housing starts increase.
Yet, we have long since emerged from recession and the housing market...
6 tags
Big Ideas for Small Business: The CDFI Bond... →
by Jordan Eizenga
The federal government has not yet implemented a program, authorized in legislation passed in September 2010, which, once up and running, will help so-called Community Development Financial Institutions invest in small businesses and communities hardest hit by the financial crisis.
The 2010 CDFI Bond Guarantee Program will expand access to low-cost capital for Community...
4 tags
Consumers Matter in Mortgage-Servicing... →
by Peter Swire and Jordan Eizenga
The current structure of the mortgage-servicing industry is such that servicers are responsible to investors and “owe no duty at all to consider the needs and interests of consumers.” That is, the clients of mortgage-servicing companies are investors in mortgage-backed securities for whom the servicers collect monthly mortgage payments from homeowners and, as...
4 tags
AUSTERITY!: Britain's run with predictably bad...
by Jordan Eizenga
In the summer of 2010, I wrote repeatedly (see here and here, for example ) about the negative consequences of implementing austerity measures when there is very weak demand and high unemployment. Cutting spending, under these conditions, means removing demand from the economy when there is already a big hole in the combined demand of households, businesses and the government...