[patientrenter]

Allan, I like your comments in general, and I prefer to live in the free market you support. But I have heard comments about the economic and other malaise of France for a long time and it puzzles me.

Most French people enjoy a very high quality of living, as far as I can tell. Doubtless they have fewer francs (er, euros) in their pockets than they might if they behaved differently, but they eat excellent food for their normal meals, have enough time for pursuits outside work, and enjoy a vibrant artistic, intellectual, and sexual culture. We have some advantages too, but I wouldn’t exactly call France a loser country.

[patientrenter]

Allan, I like your comments in general, and I prefer to live in the free market you support. But I have heard comments about the economic and other malaise of France for a long time and it puzzles me.

Most French people enjoy a very high quality of living, as far as I can tell. Doubtless they have fewer francs (er, euros) in their pockets than they might if they behaved differently, but they eat excellent food for their normal meals, have enough time for pursuits outside work, and enjoy a vibrant artistic, intellectual, and sexual culture. We have some advantages too, but I wouldn’t exactly call France a loser country.

[patientrenter]

Allan, I like your comments in general, and I prefer to live in the free market you support. But I have heard comments about the economic and other malaise of France for a long time and it puzzles me.

Most French people enjoy a very high quality of living, as far as I can tell. Doubtless they have fewer francs (er, euros) in their pockets than they might if they behaved differently, but they eat excellent food for their normal meals, have enough time for pursuits outside work, and enjoy a vibrant artistic, intellectual, and sexual culture. We have some advantages too, but I wouldn’t exactly call France a loser country.

[patientrenter]

Allan, I like your comments in general, and I prefer to live in the free market you support. But I have heard comments about the economic and other malaise of France for a long time and it puzzles me.

Most French people enjoy a very high quality of living, as far as I can tell. Doubtless they have fewer francs (er, euros) in their pockets than they might if they behaved differently, but they eat excellent food for their normal meals, have enough time for pursuits outside work, and enjoy a vibrant artistic, intellectual, and sexual culture. We have some advantages too, but I wouldn’t exactly call France a loser country.

[patientrenter]

It’s pretty clear why they chose the 105%. If you can take supply off the market all the way up to (5%) more than the market price, that should drive up the market price. If successful, that allows the price to be driven up again off the new higher price, etc, until we have reinflated the bubble.

It may only be 5% at a time, but this is yet another measure designed to ultimately boost home prices so they stay in the stratosphere, and maybe even go higher than they are today.

[patientrenter]

It’s pretty clear why they chose the 105%. If you can take supply off the market all the way up to (5%) more than the market price, that should drive up the market price. If successful, that allows the price to be driven up again off the new higher price, etc, until we have reinflated the bubble.

It may only be 5% at a time, but this is yet another measure designed to ultimately boost home prices so they stay in the stratosphere, and maybe even go higher than they are today.

[patientrenter]

It’s pretty clear why they chose the 105%. If you can take supply off the market all the way up to (5%) more than the market price, that should drive up the market price. If successful, that allows the price to be driven up again off the new higher price, etc, until we have reinflated the bubble.

It may only be 5% at a time, but this is yet another measure designed to ultimately boost home prices so they stay in the stratosphere, and maybe even go higher than they are today.

[patientrenter]

It’s pretty clear why they chose the 105%. If you can take supply off the market all the way up to (5%) more than the market price, that should drive up the market price. If successful, that allows the price to be driven up again off the new higher price, etc, until we have reinflated the bubble.

It may only be 5% at a time, but this is yet another measure designed to ultimately boost home prices so they stay in the stratosphere, and maybe even go higher than they are today.

[patientrenter]

It’s pretty clear why they chose the 105%. If you can take supply off the market all the way up to (5%) more than the market price, that should drive up the market price. If successful, that allows the price to be driven up again off the new higher price, etc, until we have reinflated the bubble.

It may only be 5% at a time, but this is yet another measure designed to ultimately boost home prices so they stay in the stratosphere, and maybe even go higher than they are today.

[patientrenter]

[quote=davelj]I’m hoping that this is political rhetoric on his part and that he understands that values are going to continue to decline until they are in line with incomes and rents no matter what the govt. does. And that all of this “raising home values” baloney is really just referring to the govt.’s attempt to keep prices from falling too far below the mean reverting trend (which may or may not be effective). He simply can’t be that stupid.[/quote]

I like a lot of what he’s done in other areas, but at some point we have to quit making excuses for his house price support policy. He says very clearly that he wants to keep home prices high. He puts into his administration’s key economic posts people who are enthusiastic supporters of the economic theory that (a) home prices should go up a lot more than they go down and that (b) people who bet on (a) with other people’s money should get lots of breaks on the way up and on the way down.

[patientrenter]

[quote=davelj]I’m hoping that this is political rhetoric on his part and that he understands that values are going to continue to decline until they are in line with incomes and rents no matter what the govt. does. And that all of this “raising home values” baloney is really just referring to the govt.’s attempt to keep prices from falling too far below the mean reverting trend (which may or may not be effective). He simply can’t be that stupid.[/quote]

I like a lot of what he’s done in other areas, but at some point we have to quit making excuses for his house price support policy. He says very clearly that he wants to keep home prices high. He puts into his administration’s key economic posts people who are enthusiastic supporters of the economic theory that (a) home prices should go up a lot more than they go down and that (b) people who bet on (a) with other people’s money should get lots of breaks on the way up and on the way down.

[patientrenter]

[quote=davelj]I’m hoping that this is political rhetoric on his part and that he understands that values are going to continue to decline until they are in line with incomes and rents no matter what the govt. does. And that all of this “raising home values” baloney is really just referring to the govt.’s attempt to keep prices from falling too far below the mean reverting trend (which may or may not be effective). He simply can’t be that stupid.[/quote]

I like a lot of what he’s done in other areas, but at some point we have to quit making excuses for his house price support policy. He says very clearly that he wants to keep home prices high. He puts into his administration’s key economic posts people who are enthusiastic supporters of the economic theory that (a) home prices should go up a lot more than they go down and that (b) people who bet on (a) with other people’s money should get lots of breaks on the way up and on the way down.

[patientrenter]

[quote=davelj]I’m hoping that this is political rhetoric on his part and that he understands that values are going to continue to decline until they are in line with incomes and rents no matter what the govt. does. And that all of this “raising home values” baloney is really just referring to the govt.’s attempt to keep prices from falling too far below the mean reverting trend (which may or may not be effective). He simply can’t be that stupid.[/quote]

I like a lot of what he’s done in other areas, but at some point we have to quit making excuses for his house price support policy. He says very clearly that he wants to keep home prices high. He puts into his administration’s key economic posts people who are enthusiastic supporters of the economic theory that (a) home prices should go up a lot more than they go down and that (b) people who bet on (a) with other people’s money should get lots of breaks on the way up and on the way down.

[patientrenter]

[quote=davelj]I’m hoping that this is political rhetoric on his part and that he understands that values are going to continue to decline until they are in line with incomes and rents no matter what the govt. does. And that all of this “raising home values” baloney is really just referring to the govt.’s attempt to keep prices from falling too far below the mean reverting trend (which may or may not be effective). He simply can’t be that stupid.[/quote]

I like a lot of what he’s done in other areas, but at some point we have to quit making excuses for his house price support policy. He says very clearly that he wants to keep home prices high. He puts into his administration’s key economic posts people who are enthusiastic supporters of the economic theory that (a) home prices should go up a lot more than they go down and that (b) people who bet on (a) with other people’s money should get lots of breaks on the way up and on the way down.

[patientrenter]

[quote=execute]This is my first post, but i’ve been lurking here along time.
The thing many people seem to forget is that the market is much much larger then the government. The government will fail in propping up home prices. Consider all the things the government has done up to this point: bailouts, stimulus checks, nationalization, and look at the situation the economy is in: market down 55%, unemployment surging, housing values continuing to plummet.

I guess my point is that the government is ineffective. They cannot stop this, no matter what they do. Yes, they can make the situation worse and prolong things, but I have zero faith in their ability to “fix” anything.[/quote]

It is easy to forget that government action can be very effective in distorting prices. For example, if the government were to decide tomorrow to give buyers with no downpayment enough money to buy any home at 120% of its appraised value, then I guarantee you that home prices would move up quickly. Yes, inflation would eventually shoot up, but that just transfers wealth from net savers to net borrowers. That makes it a form of confiscation, but it’s a form very much in favor in the US.

[Author]

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