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Nancie Clare Wall Street Plays – The Rest of Us Pay
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We Baby Boomers may be cases of arrested development, but for the most part there’s nothing wrong with our memories. So, when it comes to financial crisis we remember one or two. (Off the top of my head: oil embargo, Continental Bank collapse, savings and loan crisis, junk bond crisis, Enron collapse crisis.) So the good news is, we survived previous financial meltdowns and we’ll survive this. The bad news is that it may take a very long time for the economy to right itself because of the complicated nature of the mess and -- especially because of -- the financial community’s approach to solving the problem. Why? Because all politics is local and people who are facing foreclosure on their homes aren't big political contributors, while financial institutions – even those in a pickle over the current credit squeeze – have oodles of cash for prospective pols. Think I’m being too cynical: yesterday the New York Times did a story on President Bush’s Hope Now, a group organized by the White House to help folks in default and in danger of losing their homes. Callers, when someone actually answers the phone, are finding the counselors more interested in preventing the lenders from losing any money than they are helping desperate homeowners. And that’s the bottom line. In the current climate, any relief on the horizon is going to be for Wall Street, not Main Street. Comments (1)
I agree! written by Normal, August 01, 2008
Those mortgage lenders wouldn't be in such bad shape if they had used good lending principles in the first place. And does the common man get any sympathy or help when he makes a mistake with his (her) financial decisions? No! Most of the people having trouble paying mortgages are experiencing increasing rates, like on ARMs. If the lender wasn't so greedy, he could still be getting his payments from the borrower if he would back off on the increase. I've been in this boat and they don't want to adjust. They'd rather stick to 'policy' and have no money when the owner defaults than reduce the increase and get paid. Govt should be helping the economy (average Joe) by requiring lenders to quit being 'loan sharks' who charge outrageous rates. This includes credit card companies. Now that we've realized our mistake and try to pay down our debt, we can't because the rates are so high, the principal balance never decreases. It's all about keeping the companies in profit, not keeping consumers spending. Who has any discretionary income these days? It's all going to interest!
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Nancie Clare
Nancie Clare is an editor/writer/web content producer (and card-carrying baby boomer) with more than 25 years experience writing about issues that impact everyday life. Nancie is a former managing editor of WomensWallStreet.com as well as a Daily Cents contributor and is currently consulting with a yet-to-be-launched social networking/content site for — you guessed it — baby boomers.