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Eugene
Participantunless you drive, eat, pay utilities, and get completely free health care.
okay…
Gasoline is past $3. Oh the horror! It costs me whopping $4 to drive my BMW to work every day (20 miles each way). If I were working as a burger flipper, it would be 1/2 of my hourly salary or 6% of my total budget. I happen to make a little more than a burger fliipper. I think I’ll manage even if gasoline gets past $10 mark.Food … hmmm … somehow I don’t see any growth in food prices. Actually no, I do. Chipotle burritos are about 50c more expensive now than they were in 2002. That’s like 10% increase. And again, I don’t eat so much that my budget would hurt from a 10% increase in food prices.
Utilities and healthcare… I’ll pass here… I don’t remember how much utilities cost 5 years ago, and my employer pays most of my health insurance anyway.
Now. Where do I _really_ spend my money?
Cars. In 2002, I could buy a new Toyota Corolla starting at $12.5k or a new BMW 330 (225 hp) for $37k. Today I can buy a new bigger Toyota Corolla starting at $14.5k or a new BMW 328 (230 hp) for $32k. Weak dollar you say? What weak dollar?
Rent. In 2002 I rented a 1br apartment in UTC for $1100 a month. Today these apartments go for $1350.
Electronics. Today you can get a nice 19″ LCD monitor for $250 or a 50″ plasma TV for $1500. How much did they cost 5 years ago?
Clothes? Books? Toys? Furniture?
I rest my case …
November 9, 2007 at 12:51 AM in reply to: “There’s no housing bubble . . .” – Ben Bernanke, 10/27/2005 #97597ParticipantWhich parts of Bernanke’s speech do you disagree with?
There was and there is no nationwide housing bubble. There is a number of regional housing bubbles in California, Nevada, Arizona, Florida, and Hawaii, and to a lesser extent in the Northeast. Elsewhere in the country, price increases have been modest and explained by a combination of rising incomes and low interest rates. Even in places like Bay Area and SoCal, housing prices didn’t deviate from fundamentals until 2003-2004.
House prices aren’t growing any more, but the economy did not go into the recession and even as of Q3 2007 we are experiencing continued growth in real GDP.
The biggest thing that Bernanke didn’t see at the time was the subprime problem. Its possible that he did not appreciate the importance of mortgage equity withdrawals. That is probably not the case any more (there’s a thorough analysis of MEW and their impact on consumer spending on the Federal Reserve web site).
November 9, 2007 at 12:51 AM in reply to: “There’s no housing bubble . . .” – Ben Bernanke, 10/27/2005 #97659ParticipantWhich parts of Bernanke’s speech do you disagree with?
There was and there is no nationwide housing bubble. There is a number of regional housing bubbles in California, Nevada, Arizona, Florida, and Hawaii, and to a lesser extent in the Northeast. Elsewhere in the country, price increases have been modest and explained by a combination of rising incomes and low interest rates. Even in places like Bay Area and SoCal, housing prices didn’t deviate from fundamentals until 2003-2004.
House prices aren’t growing any more, but the economy did not go into the recession and even as of Q3 2007 we are experiencing continued growth in real GDP.
The biggest thing that Bernanke didn’t see at the time was the subprime problem. Its possible that he did not appreciate the importance of mortgage equity withdrawals. That is probably not the case any more (there’s a thorough analysis of MEW and their impact on consumer spending on the Federal Reserve web site).
November 9, 2007 at 12:51 AM in reply to: “There’s no housing bubble . . .” – Ben Bernanke, 10/27/2005 #97670ParticipantWhich parts of Bernanke’s speech do you disagree with?
There was and there is no nationwide housing bubble. There is a number of regional housing bubbles in California, Nevada, Arizona, Florida, and Hawaii, and to a lesser extent in the Northeast. Elsewhere in the country, price increases have been modest and explained by a combination of rising incomes and low interest rates. Even in places like Bay Area and SoCal, housing prices didn’t deviate from fundamentals until 2003-2004.
House prices aren’t growing any more, but the economy did not go into the recession and even as of Q3 2007 we are experiencing continued growth in real GDP.
The biggest thing that Bernanke didn’t see at the time was the subprime problem. Its possible that he did not appreciate the importance of mortgage equity withdrawals. That is probably not the case any more (there’s a thorough analysis of MEW and their impact on consumer spending on the Federal Reserve web site).
November 9, 2007 at 12:51 AM in reply to: “There’s no housing bubble . . .” – Ben Bernanke, 10/27/2005 #97676ParticipantWhich parts of Bernanke’s speech do you disagree with?
There was and there is no nationwide housing bubble. There is a number of regional housing bubbles in California, Nevada, Arizona, Florida, and Hawaii, and to a lesser extent in the Northeast. Elsewhere in the country, price increases have been modest and explained by a combination of rising incomes and low interest rates. Even in places like Bay Area and SoCal, housing prices didn’t deviate from fundamentals until 2003-2004.
House prices aren’t growing any more, but the economy did not go into the recession and even as of Q3 2007 we are experiencing continued growth in real GDP.
The biggest thing that Bernanke didn’t see at the time was the subprime problem. Its possible that he did not appreciate the importance of mortgage equity withdrawals. That is probably not the case any more (there’s a thorough analysis of MEW and their impact on consumer spending on the Federal Reserve web site).
ParticipantOn the positive side, my S&P put options are back to pre-rate cut levels and my gold and foreign currency deposits are hitting new highs every day.
ParticipantOn the positive side, my S&P put options are back to pre-rate cut levels and my gold and foreign currency deposits are hitting new highs every day.
ParticipantOn the positive side, my S&P put options are back to pre-rate cut levels and my gold and foreign currency deposits are hitting new highs every day.
ParticipantOn the positive side, my S&P put options are back to pre-rate cut levels and my gold and foreign currency deposits are hitting new highs every day.
ParticipantYeah, my wife is tired of living in an apartment. She loves to have friends and family over and now it is just not convenient.
Have you considered renting a house? 3br houses in Mira Mesa go for 1800-2200 a month.
ParticipantYeah, my wife is tired of living in an apartment. She loves to have friends and family over and now it is just not convenient.
Have you considered renting a house? 3br houses in Mira Mesa go for 1800-2200 a month.
ParticipantYeah, my wife is tired of living in an apartment. She loves to have friends and family over and now it is just not convenient.
Have you considered renting a house? 3br houses in Mira Mesa go for 1800-2200 a month.
ParticipantYeah, my wife is tired of living in an apartment. She loves to have friends and family over and now it is just not convenient.
Have you considered renting a house? 3br houses in Mira Mesa go for 1800-2200 a month.
Participant1000/kid/month is above average even for infants. As kids grow older, they get cheaper.
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