China says" the good old days are over" for the U.S..

[Mayalily]

Well, the loans were so cheap, meaning they were interest only loans so the payment was about $500 a month on what was really an inflated housing bubble price of a mortgage more like $4000 dollars a month once the interest only time period ran it's course, and the real mortgage price kicked in.  The homes were not worth that much; it was a bubble caused by speculators trying to flip properties for a quick profit, which Greenspan opened the opportunity to do by getting interest rates down to their lowest level in 40 years at the time of real estate bubble.    It eventually became a pyramid scheme this house flipping, and somebody always gets stuck at the top with no where else to sell.  They reached the top of the pyramid and then it all collapsed. 

I suspect it was a way to get property taxes for a while to support the Bushes administrations "war effort".  These people are a bunch of talking heads.  There are a lot of people "in the shadows" and we (the little people) have no idea who these people are.  One who does stand out from the shadows though is Greenspan.  I blame the housing bubble on Greenspan, and then the greedy and under-handed loan officers took over from there. 

As far as your OP, the economy already has effected my SL.  I try to stay on budget, but even if I spent one dollar a day, that still adds up to 30 U.S. dollars a month, and I still think that is a little too much to spend on an internet world.  I think about $20.00 U.S. a month for an internet world seems a little more sane to me.  I'm not paying what it costs for a loaf of bread for a pair of dolly shoes.  I mean these items can be copied so easily, that some of these prices merchants charge aren't worth it.  I'd rather give a loaf of bread or some eggs to our local food bank in our neighborhood.  I'll buy something if it is a reasonable price; but if it's too expensive for something that can be copied over and over; I'm not spending my money; it's too selfish for me to do that, imo, not to mention other dealers have just as cute or cuter items at a far more reasonable price.  About $20.00 dollars a month is what I would like to get my SL down too, and if I can't tip that much, I can't tip that much.  I'd like to stick to my budget as I'd like to have a RL too and RL entertainment also. 

ETA:  I wish they would change that "linden loving" thing to "give what you can", as money in no way equates how much someone "loves" nor does it reflect how talented the rl person is who is providing the entertainment.  People give what they can and I don't like "love" attached to the linden too much.  That linden loving thing becomes a big turn off to me at times.  Big turn off.  That linden loving thing is one of the reasons I haven't taken a job as a hostess.  I just don't like it.  I think they should change it too "give what you can to help support _______________" fill in the blank.  I'd prefer to be a manager, at least a manager does something for the club to help newbies.  I help newbies more than some hostesses do, and I'm not the one getting paid.  I'm often like why should I pay a hostess when I do more work than they do?  I'm in IM helping newbies, not them.  This is the big turn off for me about SL.  Hostess' should be supported by the club owners.  I don't really see a need to pay a hostess as much as a Dj, as the Dj is the one providing the entertainment and doing most of the work.  I'm helping newbies more than the hostesses, so why should I pay them?  I'm beginning to ask myself this question.  I'm working; they're dancing with their boyfriend or girlfriend and playing linden loving gestures, while ignoring the newbies. 

[Venus Petrov]

Dr. Conerly is a conservative economist.

The problem with the housing boom and bust is that so many home buyers bought a home primarily as an investment and not primarily as a place to live.  As an 'investment', they siphoned equity loans to pay for all sorts of things during the good times, many things they would have been better off planning and saving for (i.e., the old fashioned way).  So, people who 'invested' way over their abilities to repay the loans have suffered.

I do not like to see others in dire straits.  As individuals we all need to learn to take responsibility for our decisions.  This is a very tough lesson for some now.  Hopefully, they will learn from it.

[Anaiya Arnold]

Pressured?

No, they were rewarded.

 

Basically the bank made the loans and sold them onto Wall Street.  S&R's role was to give a nonsense credit rating to the resulting securities so that these junk bonds could be misrepresented as high value, low risk investments and on sold at inflated prices to your typical mom and pop investor through the kinds of low risk/managed risk investment funds that middle Americans' retirement savings tend to be invested in. 

By giving junk bonds the same security rating as US treasury bonds, companies like S&R enabled brokers to sell junk bonds they picked up at rock bottom prices from banks, to investment funds whose rules limit or prohibit exposure to the level of risk the bonds entailed, and at highly inflated prices.

 

[Ceka Cianci]

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Venus Petrov wrote:

Dr. Conerly is a conservative economist.

The problem with the housing boom and bust is that so many home buyers bought a home primarily as an investment and not primarily as a place to live.  As an 'investment', they siphoned equity loans to pay for all sorts of things during the good times, many things they would have been better off planning and saving for (i.e., the old fashioned way).  So, people who 'invested' way over their abilities to repay the loans have suffered.

I do not like to see others in dire straits.  As individuals we all need to learn to take responsibility for our decisions.  This is a very tough lesson for some now.  Hopefully, they will learn from it.

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ya i wasn't aware of  his background.if he was liberal or conservative or any of that..i'm sure everyone is something ...if he wrote it with lies then thats what i was wanting to know..how much trth was in it or not..

i just saw a few things in the article that seemed familiar..and what you say makes a lot of sense because i remember people always talking about buying homes for like 5 years and then selling for a prohet..

then a lot of those people ended up moving into the market getting stock brokers..doing well..my father is a home builder..so he built a lot of homes that people would brag about selling them off as well in a short period..

he raised me to pay for what i want and that if i can't pay for things right then to never gamble with money i don't have ..wait until i had it..

my first house was paid for direct to the owner..deed changed hands..my jeep was paid up front as well..title changing hands

it would have been really hard to have all kinds of payments when all that stuff hit..

i think there is only two good ways of getting the american dream that everyone wants so much..

save and get it piece by piece or get a loan on a long time mortgage and hope we live the 30 years  to enjoy it..

i think a lot of people only acted like they had it for show while up to their necks in debt that was beyond their means to pay..

there were and still are so many traps to avoid..thinking credit is another currency that we only have to pay the minimum on is one of those traps that i have seen so many get trapped on..

there is no reason to have thousands on a credit card..it's just want that a lot were calling need..

they should all be treated like an american express..pay for it next month or you are cut off until you do..then if you failed  to pay it a mark was put against the credit rating of the card holder..

my father was fortunate in those times to be a builder as well and all the other trades he knows..he took a lot of that moneyand saved and saved

  then bought all our land and everything on the farm..even the log cabins that he built..by the time it was 2004 he was at the point that he coudl live on the farm and provide for all our family without ever having to leave if it came to it ..even if his business colapsed..

no loans for anything..just hard work and a lot of saving smart..

 

 

 

 

 

[Ceka Cianci]

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Anaiya Arnold wrote:

Pressured?

No, they were rewarded.

 

Basically the bank made the loans and sold them onto Wall Street.  S&R's role was to give a nonsense credit rating to the resulting securities so that these junk bonds could be misrepresented as high value, low risk investments and on sold at inflated prices to your typical mom and pop investor through the kinds of low risk/managed risk investment funds that middle Americans' retirement savings tend to be invested in. 

By giving junk bonds the same security rating as US treasury bonds, companies like S&R enabled brokers to sell junk bonds they picked up at rock bottom prices from banks, to investment funds whose rules limit or prohibit exposure to the level of risk the bonds entailed, and at highly inflated prices.

 

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see thats what i had gotten from that article..only the article  makes it sound like it was something  forced on them when really it was something banks probably really wanted and finally got it back then?

i remember a lot of the fall out and remember having to get ready for it before it happened..

i have just been sceptical when people start acting like it was the current administration at the time it blew up that caused it..something like 2008 had to be built up to.. each president from the point that it started up until the fall out had to see what was coming..

i mean we were seeing it..

i live in the bottom part of tennessee..conspiracy theory hell bible belt the world is ending every day of the year..

it can be very hard to get good information around here..you think the internet is bad? LOL just add voice and a lot of volume and crazy looks and  thats my town hehehehe

i have to carry a block of salt with me at all times just to lick to keep stuff straight hehehe

[Conifer Dada]

I'm British and once our nation was the richest and most powerful on earth.  That was a long time ago and we never will be so again, and all but the silliest of British people accept that fact.  The USA is now the richest and most powerful nation on earth but in future decades China is likely overtake it to become the world's greatest superpower.  

I doubt if that will have much effect on SL though.  Second Life is still the superpower among virtual worlds and the Chinese one, Hipihi, is a long way behind.

[Lasher Oh]

As Linden Lab  run and control the SL community in much the same way as the Chinese regime overlord their own people I'm certain that  they will be smiling and nodding in agreement with their role models most recent proclamations.

 

^L^

[Anaiya Arnold]

Well speaking in terms of pressure, none of this happened in a vacum (haha).

The banks were profiting from the loans while onshifting the risk so they were rewarded for making the loans.  Wall Street brokers were doing very well and were placing demand pressure on the banks (they wanted more and more of these loans made).  I would be very surprised if there were not politicians on both sides of the political divide who had a conflict of interest and either through their direct investments or through their relationships to investors and/or corporate interests, were very motivated to encourage the loans.

 

The problem is the free market radicalism that has taken over from Keynsian economic policy in the last few decades.  You can tell someone is dishonest or clueless when they blame Keynsian policy for this particular mess.  It was radical free marketeering all the way. 

The trickle down policy is an example of the tennets from this brand of psuedo-religious dogma.  You'll see people who have brought into the free marketeer crap babble on about rewarding those who are successful, while ignoring the fact that the successful have never been more rewarded and everybody else has not been worse off since the last world war. 

Evidently, the economic recovery after WWII was achieved by following tried, tested, and proven Keynsian policies.  The radical free marketeering has been persistently shown to deliver illusionary and nominal (rather than real) wealth, such as the "wealth" that disappeared when houses were revalued. 

[Conifer Dada]

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Lasher Oh wrote:

As Linden Lab  run and control the SL community in much the same way as the Chinese regime overlord their own people I'm certain that  they will be smiling and nodding in agreement with their role models most recent proclamations.

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I've never felt my freedom being restricted by LL in my nearly 5 years in SL.  Yes, there's TOS, but that's the same in any organisation, website or game.