Mortgage Mess!

Most of us know by now how severely damaged the mortgage and real estate financial industries are; but what is still to come? And what measures can be taken to avoid a collapse that would be classified as a depression-like economic society? These are broad questions, and I am looking to both real estate professionals and consumers for their thoughts and ideas.

For example, will simply lowering interest rates stimulate the housing industry to rise above the current crisis? And what future ramifications would such a move create? What else should government do? What should government not do? Is too much government good or bad for our economy and our industries? Jay Leno joked that in Cuba, when Castro rose to power, he instantly demanded all private business and commerce was now public-owned, which we define as communism. In the U.S., however, we call that a bailout. As extreme and funny as that statement sounds, is there any truth to it? Recently, 60 minutes reported we are only in the 1st wave of the financial meltdown, and this crisis could snowball for the next 2-5 years.

There are also some scary similarities of the conditions of today compared to those during the great depression (ex. Obama policies compared to F.D.R policies). In fact, the depression did not end when F.D.R. took office. The economy (national and global economy) continued to worsen for years to come until after world war II (actually, the horrible global economy enabled one opportunistic dictator to rise to power - Adolf Hitler).

This blog is not intended to evoke political party affiliations or opinions towards either party. The goal is only to hear the every day American's opinion on how this can be corrected, if it can be at all. We also want to hear how future waves of credit demise could effect your presonal life and well-being. Think auto-loans, student loans, credit cards, etc... Thank you for your posts and thoughts. - JB