Sheila Bair describes the 2008 financial crisis and its aftermath as she saw it during her time as chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. She explains why the U.S. financial system is still at risk and tougher regulatory reform is needed. Here is a direct link.
On a personal note, I can still recall my first trip to New York, it was the day I realized that there was no bear statue on Wall Street and the day I confirmed the truth about the financial world.
This article encapsulates the discussion America should be having leading into the election of their next commander-in-chief. Sadly, no political candidates or leaders today are anywhere close to admitting these truths. And yet, they must before the world will get to the necessary excision and rehabilitation from our credit cancer. On the upside, the numbers are so staggering and the elephant in the room so enormous, that no amount of rhetoric or polish will be able to cover it up indefinitely. As the citizens of Spain, Italy and Greece increasingly take to the streets today, rising against their captured-by-the bankers-governments, the citizens of America can see a glimpse of the future so long as they continue to deny what happened and what needs to be done next. Read: “The speech that wins the election.
Sales of new homes and condominiums in the Greater Toronto Area declined in August, the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) reported today:
“According to RealNet Canada Inc., BILD’s official source of new home market intelligence, the 1,242 homes sold in August 2012 add up to the lowest monthly sales since 2009 and the lowest August on record. Year-to-date sales have remained on par with 2010 but below its record-breaking 2011 predecessor.”
The Huffington Post picked up on the recent data yesterday and pointed out that while lower prices would be a help to would-be-buyers, the adjustment in Canada’s now housing-dependent, over-indebted, domestic economy is likely to be painful:
“While many prospective home buyers may cheer to hear that homes could soon be more affordable, at least in Toronto, economists warn that a significant slowdown in housing could have repercussions for the entire economy.
In a report issued last month, Scotiabank warned that “balance sheets heavily skewed to real estate leave Canadians vulnerable to an adverse shock, including a sharp rise in unemployment and/or a sharp drop in home prices.”
Scotia predicted that home prices would decline on average 10 per cent across the country, and the market would take a decade to recover, based on previous housing market cycles.
But Capital Economics predicts a 25-per-cent decline in house prices, which would inevitably lead to rising unemployment. As BILD noted in its report, there are 193,000 people employed in construction in Toronto alone.
