25 People to Blame for the Financial Crisis
25 People to Blame for the Financial Crisis
TIME Magazine
Who’s at fault? The good intentions, bad managers and greed behind the financial meltdown is exposed by TIME Magazine. View the list.
HUD Secretary, Congress Debate Foreclosure Plans
Washington Post
Against a backdrop of record-low new home sales and ballooning losses from foreclosures, Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan told lawmakers Thursday that the lending industry is set to launch the Obama administration's $75 billion foreclosure prevention program next week.
Final details will be released Wednesday, but Donovan said the plan will allow borrowers with big debts from car loans, credit cards and unaffordable mortgages to have their home loans modified to lower the monthly payment, even if they are not in default.
House of Cards: The Faces Behind Foreclosures
TIME Magazine
In the one-strike economy, it's not just the subprime suckers going down. Trouble stretches beyond the province of liar loans, condo-flipping and the collateralized debt obligations that no one fully understands. A hard rain now falls on the just as well as the unjust. Consumers have stopped spending, factories have stopped operating, employers have stopped hiring — and home values continue to fall. For millions of people, the margin between getting by and getting buried is becoming as thin and as bloody as a razor blade.
Citigroup is Bailed Out Yet Again by the American Government
The Economist
In a matter of weeks the nationalization of America’s banks has gone from taboo to talking point. Politicians on both left and right accept that America’s sickest banks may need to be taken over and restructured and their good parts returned to private ownership. On Friday February 27th Citigroup and the Treasury reached a deal that took a big step towards what would in essence be partial nationalization. Through conversions of preferred stock the government will end up with up to 36% of Citigroup, though the final figure will depend on how many preferred shares private holders agree to swap.
Calif. Offers Tax Break for New-home Buyers
San Francisco Chronicle
California is offering a big carrot to people who buy brand-new homes in coming weeks: a $10,000 state tax credit for new-home buyers who close escrow starting Sunday.
With the housing sector in near-collapse and construction starts at record lows, home builders hope the credit helps them clear out inventory and kick-start their beleaguered industry.