8 striking parallels between the U.S. and the Roman Empire

Is our republic coming to an unceremonious end? History may not be on America’s side. Lawrence Lessig’s Republic Lost documents the corrosive effect of money on our political process. Lessig persuasively makes the case that we are witnessing the loss of our republican form of government, as politicians increasingly represent those who fund their campaigns, rather than […]

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Chinese Citizens Buy 1 Out Of Every 10 Homes Sold In California

Only in the USA could one view the purchase of property by foreigners a sign of recovery. Chinese citizens buing 10% of every home sold in California, and 1/3 luxury homes in California. As China’s economy rises, a group of China’s new rich with abundant cash funds appeared in Southern California, mostly businessmen, taking advantage […]

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Barack Obama a Pioneering Contributor to the Subprime Real Estate Bubble

President Barack Obama was a pioneering contributor to the national subprime real estate bubble, and roughly half of the 186 African-American clients in his landmark 1995 mortgage discrimination lawsuit against Citibank have since gone bankrupt or received foreclosure notices. As few as 19 of those 186 clients still own homes with clean credit ratings, following […]

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10 cities where homes cost less than a car

For many Americans, homeownership is the epitome of living the American dream. Yet, in towns with high tumbling home prices and double-digit vacancy rates, median-priced homes now cost the equivalent of new American cars – except, as investments go, they’re slightly more risky.   Call it the dark side of the American dream – but […]

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The Housing bust over?

Nationwide, the housing market appears is back on track, so says the Wall Street Journal. It reports nearly seven years after the start of the housing bust, most indexes of housing prices are now going up. Experts say a reduced amount of unsold homes is the key to the turn around. More good news for […]

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What if everything we’ve been told about the financial crisis is wrong?

Stop me if you’ve heard any of the following before: Exploding ARMs to subprime borrowers kicked off the nation’s housing and ensuing financial crisis. Mortgages during the boom era were designed to fail, and everyone making the loans knew it. Financial innovation ran amok in U.S. mortgage markets in the 2000s, driving unsafe lending. Government […]

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No Rise in Home Prices Until 2020

Home prices are unlikely to recover before 2020 and mortgage defaults will persist for years, says a survey of bank risk managers out Friday. The Survey conducted by the Professional Risk Managers’ International Association for FICO, found that 49 percent of respondents do not expect housing prices to rise back to 2007 levels for another […]

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