Some housing market newspaper clippings from the last Iraq war

[anxvariety]

I was around 12 during the last Iraq War/Persian Gulf War. I wasn’t much of a newspaper reader, but for some reason I was really captivated by the newspapers at the time, so I held on to about 5 of them from that time – 1991… I just pulled them out today and they are pretty interesting to read. They could almost be published in todays papers, because many of the names are the same – Bush, President Bush, Cheney, Powell, Greenspan etc..

Anyways, I found a couple short paragraphs related to the housing market and I thought I’d post them here for fun.

The scans are from a paper dated Jan 16, 1991 in the Blade Citizen which is now the North County Times(I think). First scan is from the ‘Nation’ section, and the second scan is in the ‘Business’ section.

[img_assist|nid=3035|title=Blade Citizen Clipping 2|desc=Blade Citizen Clipping 2|link=node|align=left|width=466|height=210]

[img_assist|nid=3034|title=Blade Citizen Clipping|desc=Blade Citizen Clipping|link=node|align=left|width=466|height=440]

[partypup]

What I think is thoroughly fascinating is that the price of oil per gallon in 1991 was $30.07, and the price of oil per gallon in 2003 (on the eve of the Iraq war) was $30. In 2007, however, oil is now $67/barrel. A sad commentary on the purchasing power of the U.S. dollar since the arrival of Dubya…

[blahblahblah]

Ummmm, there was another president in office for 8 years between 1992-2000, you know. You can’t blame Dubya for everything. Big Al’s easy money ride was in full swing during the 90s — he just had to turn up the speed a bit since 2001 to keep us all from noticing that it was no longer attached to the ground.

It is fascinating to see the names in those clippings, though! These people are like the undead, they never go away. Remember when Kissinger crawled out of his coffin to advise Bush on the middle east last year? Just imagine if Jeb Bush or Hillary Clinton gets the white house in 2008 and serves another 8 years. Then Chelsea or Jenna will be old enough to ascend to the throne. I sure am glad we kicked out the British so we could get rid of dynastic rule.

[PerryChase]

Thanks for the post. It’s fun to look back.

foresakencraft used to have a section of his website dedicate to eerily familiar news stories from the past. I miss that website.

[meadandale]

@partypup

Oil was not $30 per GALLON, it was $30 per BARREL. Otherwise, $60-70 bbl would seem like a bargain.

You can’t blame the price runup on GWB. More like greedy oil companies and OPEC responding to the growth in demand for fuel in China.

[cr]

Even if Bush left office today it would have no effect on oil prices. Oil Companies would just pay millions more to lobby the next president to maintain their control on our economy, eradication of the electric car, and forcing manufacturers to make ugly hybrids.

The devaluation of the dollar has nothing to do with Bush either. As CONCHO said, you can thank the FED for whoring the dollar. If you look at WWII the War actually pulled the US out of the Great Depression. So really, we’ve had a stock market boom, 2nd war in iraq, a real estate boom, all to delay the next recession.

I like the part in the article that says housing permits fell to the lowest since WWII. Can we top that this time around? The runup certainly did.

[Diego Mamani]

Not just oil prices… since 2001, also gold has doubled, as well as other metals and real estate. Wait a minute… was there really a real estate bubble? Measured in gold bars or oil barrels, houses cost the same now as in 2001. Makes you think.

And no, you can’t blame this administration or the previous one. This has to do with central bankers’ loose monetary policy (not just in the USA), trade deficits (Chinese floating in $$$), and financial innovations (think creative derivatives).

Interesting times indeed.

[partypup]

Yes, my typo — I meant $30/barrel. But my point is that oil held steady for 16 years until we went into Iraq. I’m sure demand from China and India contributed to the run-up in price, but let’s not forget that Dubya (and Cheney) are close pals with most of those “greedy oil companies.” I don’t recall Al Gore or Clinton being on the board of Halliburton, Exxon or any of those other energy-sucking giants.

[blahblahblah]

There are primarily three components to the price increase in oil from 1991 until today: inflation, which accounts for about $9/barrel, increased demand not only from China and India but also Central and South America as well. The whole world is-a-gettin’ cars and they’re burning a lot of fossil fuels. Also, we are running out of “easy” oil (the kind that shoots out of the ground when you stick a pipe in) and are having to work harder to get the oil that is left using more expensive techniques in harder-to-get-to places.

We can complain about oil companies all day long, but at the end of the day they’re just giving people what they want. Don’t like Exxon? Stop buying their product. Quit your commuter job and work from home making less money. Stop running your air conditioner and turn off your computer when you’re not using it. Shop at the farmer’s market and buy local produce. Ride a bicycle. There are many many reasons to disagree with the current administration (and the previous one!) but we can’t pin all of the world’s woes on them. Oh, and why are the Chinese doing so well and buying so many cars? Because of Clinton’s free-trade policy, so he’s as much or more to blame than Dubya.

[PerryChase]

Oh, and why are the Chinese doing so well and buying so many cars? Because of Clinton's free-trade policy, so he's as much or more to blame than Dubya.

That's kinda funny.   At least Clinton wanted fair trade.  The Republicans on the other hand, hide behind a facade of nationalism and toughness but they don't enforce any laws that are detrimental to short term business profits.  

The Chinese doing well does not mean we do less well.  I don't see your point.  As an example, the Chinese doing well means that GM is doing extremely well selling Buicks in China.  Is Buick doing well in America?  How many Boeing planes did the Chinese buy in the last 10 years?  

 

[meadandale]

@partypup

Gore Jr and Sr have been cozy with Occidental Petroleum for years. Don’t kid yourself.

[anxvariety]

Is it mostly agreeable that most politicians don’t have the interest of the voting people on their mind 100%? It seems like they do small things for the little guys, but ultimately left/right/up/down whatever their membership is these candidates that make it far enough to be elected to high office have serious commitments that they’ve
already promised to the big money paying their bills..

Is there really any question that all political parties have people that get ‘bought out’? That’s just human nature right, not particular to left or right viewpoints?

[anxvariety]

Another snippet from the same paper a few days later.. I don’t have the full article unfortunately… and this clip doesn’t say much, but this talk in 1991 sounds similar to today.

Jan 1991 Blade Citizen
full size
[img_assist|nid=3052|title=Not affordable|desc=sd affordability in sd|link=node|align=left|width=148|height=500]
full size

[Wiley]

Is oil really expensive at $65/bl ???

Doesn’t that convert to about .65cents a cup for gas?

You certainly can’t buy water, coffee, etc for that price.

[anxvariety]

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