Told Ya So: Economic Stimulus

UPDATE VII: On a related note, a "financial planner recounts how he and his family fell victim to the housing boom and bust and how they survived the ordeal." Read The New York Times, How a Financial Pro Lost His House.


UPDATE VI: More proof that we should have addressed housing, I suggested Remortgage America.

Read The New York Times, Gloom Grips Consumers, and It May Be Home Prices.

Also read the Washington Post, How much would mass refinancing do for the economy?

But thank Bush, Obama, and all you suckers out there -- we saved the Banksters and their bonuses.


UPDATE V: Maybe yes again.

A "bipartisan consensus for mass refinancing may be emerging. " Read the Washington Post, How about Refi.gov?, which notes that homeowners "could use the lower rates engineered by the Federal Reserve to reduce annual payments by an average of $2,500 a year. . . [by ordering] Fannie and Freddie to reduce its fee [and refinance] any fully paid-up loan that it already guarantees. The process would be streamlined, eliminating appraisals and income verification."


UPDATE IV: Then again, maybe not.

"President Obama’s $447 billion jobs plan got generally good reviews from economists on Friday, though several noted one glaring omission: The plan does not include a comprehensive way to address mortgage debt, which many see as the central drag on the U.S. economy." Read the Washington Post, Obama jobs plan: Economists give good reviews but say more needed on mortgage debt.


UPDATE III: FINALLY! Years after we first discussed it, "[t]he Obama administration is considering a program to let millions of homeowners refinance at today’s rates." Read The New York Times, U.S. May Back Refinance Plan for Mortgage.


UPDATE II: 'Cash for clunkers' is/was a great stimulus for the auto industry. Imagine what Remortgage America might have done for housing.

But thank Bush, Obama, and all you suckers out there -- we saved the Banksters and their bonuses.


UPDATE: Read the Washington Post, Mortgage Delinquency Reaches Record High.

Read The New York Times, More Homeowners Facing Foreclosure.

Then reread my solution for the economic mess

I think that the economy would be better off if the government had spent the money used to bail out Wall Street financial institutions (some call them banks, but I think that using the term banks when referring to those institutions is a misnomer), and instead had spent it on stabilizing the housing market with a program like Remortgage America, as we discussed at length on several programs.

Of course, all the government officials who own stock in Government Sachs would be poorer, ergo, the looting of the treasury by the robber financial institutions.