Management R&D

Here is a 2001 paper by Rosner waring of the event...

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 02:36:00 +0000

Here is a 2001 paper by Rosner waring of the eventual risks:

http://www.institutmontaigne.org/medias/06-29-01%20Home%20Without%20Equity%20is%20a%20Rental%20.pdf

PORTFOLIO MANAGER’S SUMMARY

This report assesses the prospects of the U.S. housing/mortgage sector over the
next several years. Based on our analysis, we believe there are elements in place
for the housing sector to continue to experience growth well above GDP.

"However, we believe there are risks that can materially distort the growth
prospects of the sector. Specifically, it appears that a large portion of the
housing sector’s growth in the 1990’s came from the easing of the credit
underwriting process. Such easing includes:
· The drastic reduction of minimum down payment levels from 20% to 0%
· A focused effort to target the “low income” borrower
· The reduction in private mortgage insurance requirements on high loan to
value mortgages
· The increasing use of software to streamline the origination process and
modify/recast delinquent loans in order to keep them classified as ‘current’
· Changes in the appraisal process which has led to widespread overappraisal/
over-valuation problems
If these trends remain in place, it is likely that the home purchase boom of the
past decade will continue unabated. Despite the increasingly more difficult
economic environment, it may be possible for lenders to further ease credit
standards and more fully exploit less penetrated markets... The virtuous circle of increasing
homeownership due to greater leverage has the potential to become a vicious
cycle of lower home prices due to an accelerating rate of foreclosures."

Does #8 seem a little self-serving, or is it just ...

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 23:29:00 +0000

Does #8 seem a little self-serving, or is it just me?

Why tax energy? You must be implying that there are some externalities not taken into account by the market in energy. Although I don’t know exactly which market that is. After all, energy is the capacity to do work, which would seem to be a tax on everything. Are you worried that energy use today is discounting disproportionately energy use tomorrow?

I’m also not quite following why you wish to raise the retirement age. Is this really an attack of wealth transfer to pay for retirement, or is the motivating factor hinge on providing more experience workers?

nm, found it. For some reason I couldn't get the o...

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 23:12:00 +0000

nm, found it. For some reason I couldn't get the original LA Times column to load, so here's a reprint from another paper in case your other readers are interested: http://www.dailymail.com/Opinion/Commentary/200807160193

I'd be interested to know the source of those stat...

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 23:09:00 +0000

I'd be interested to know the source of those statistics. Could you link the article you're quoting from?

I also like the idea. I look forward to seeing Pet...

noreply@blogger.com (Yovia Network) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 19:22:00 +0000

I also like the idea. I look forward to seeing Peter Greenberg talk about gas prices at 815 tonight on Larry King

I like it!

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Upjohn) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 14:46:00 +0000

I like it!

It's interesting that the Declaration includes the...

noreply@blogger.com (Frazer M) — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 16:07:00 +0000

It's interesting that the Declaration includes the phrase "...whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government."

I'm in the process of becoming a naturalized citizen, in which the government asks lots of interesting questions. One such question (Form N-400, Part 10, Question 10) reads "Have you ever advocated (either directly or indirectly) the overthrow of any government by force or violence?"

So the Declaration provides the right to overthrow government when necessary, yet I suspect that answering this question in the affirmative would disqualify me from citizenship. It must be the violence piece they object to...

Might this be the other side of the coin?"An open ...

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 18:57:00 +0000

Might this be the other side of the coin?

"An open letter to all airline customers"

http://www.cnbc.com/id/25613293/site/14081545/

Thanks for linking to us! It will be interesting t...

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 15:55:00 +0000

Thanks for linking to us! It will be interesting to see how these plans progress and play out in our economy.

Best,
Amanda Beals/MainStreet.com

I support Cooper's quest to follow the money in th...

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby) — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 05:50:00 +0000

I support Cooper's quest to follow the money in these co-ops. What could possibly be the harm?

At last a Democrat with the guts to do the right thing.

Sounds to me like the Co-ops run themselves like t...

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 01:29:00 +0000

Sounds to me like the Co-ops run themselves like the teachers unions in Michigan. May I assume you'll go after that bunch next? They cut themselves some sweet, sweet deals. And the paying customers (er, Michigan taxpayers) get nothing but the bill. (Well, in Detroit they get a 25% high school graduation rate, but I don't hear much cheering about that one.)

I'm with Anonymous 4:46. I was totally expecting ...

noreply@blogger.com (FC) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:55:00 +0000

I'm with Anonymous 4:46. I was totally expecting a libertarian indictment of government.

What would you expect from a firm with:no competit...

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:46:00 +0000

What would you expect from a firm with:

no competitors;
diffuse, small shareholders;

who cannot sell or buy shares;

run by managers exempt from securities laws, like Sarbanes Oxley,
with no disclosure requirements, so shareholders learn only what managers choose to tell them;

So what you're saying is, Electric CO-OPS model themselves on how Congress runs itself.

I mean, that was your point, right?

Man, it's hilarious to see people who have been ob...

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:34:00 +0000

Man, it's hilarious to see people who have been obsessed with FISA and government tracking of terrorist phone calls try and side step this outrageous abuse and illegal act of spying by a sitting US Congressman.

Congressman Cooper, a lawyer, is well aware he's been busted violating the federal "Computer Fraud and Abuse Act", and he admitted it in a lame attempt to try and throw the people who gave it to him under a big double wide bus.

* Knowingly accessing a computer without authorization in order to obtain national security data

* Intentionally accessing a computer without authorization to obtain:

* Information contained in a financial record of a financial institution, or contained in a file of a consumer reporting agency on a consumer.

* Information from any department or agency of the United States

* Information from any protected computer if the conduct involves an interstate or foreign communication

and

Knowingly and with the intent to defraud, trafficking in a password or similar information through which a computer may be accessed without authorization.

AND

The so-called people who gave him user name and password (who appears to be missing now that he's tried to throw them under a bus) have not sought whistle blower status, it was their move to "access" any information.

Cooper looked at private financial data and then downloaded and published it.

Defending this action is pathetic. Imagine a Republican congressman just illegally logged onto the ACLU and downloaded all their donor info or payment schedules. Yeah, y'all would be so OK with that.

What a joke.

hmmm, something telle me you would be the first to...

noreply@blogger.com (ted) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:29:00 +0000

hmmm, something telle me you would be the first to yell screaming about FISA nad unauthorized access to people's personal information.

Wait a sec, now that the ObaMessiah has flip-flopped on over to support FISA, you probably are all for it. So I stand corrected, you are probably for Rep Cooper's alleged illegal, unauthorized intrusion into people's affairs.

Nevermind

Algo mas.Love the blog. Keep it up!

noreply@blogger.com (richard brisebois) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 21:22:00 +0000

Algo mas.

Love the blog. Keep it up!

Of course, it might be that "shveling money" at pe...

noreply@blogger.com (doc) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:27:00 +0000

Of course, it might be that "shveling money" at people is actually cheaper than remaking management so that it's effective...

That's assuming that the contest will reveal the t...

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Upjohn) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 20:26:00 +0000

That's assuming that the contest will reveal the technology. If the submitter already has a viable technology then he/she can sell it someone who can make it.

The issue with McCain's proposal is that it will produce different ways to look at the problem and not a complete solution.

I think it doesn’t matter in how’s hands the techn...

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 17:44:00 +0000

I think it doesn’t matter in how’s hands the technology will be. Once viable in a low cost the owner will have the interest to make it available for the consumer market.

McCain's proposal is based on the contests that co...

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Upjohn) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:18:00 +0000

McCain's proposal is based on the contests that companies run. The contest's benefit to the company is to see the problem in a different way through the solutions that the competitors bring. The company's gain is increasing its knowledge in-house. McCain's proposal won't, on its own, capture the knowledge gained from such an event.

Sure. Like the video says, we all "just love chea...

noreply@blogger.com (Brian McCann) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 17:01:00 +0000

Sure. Like the video says, we all "just love cheap plastic crap from China." I am just trying to present a "fair and balanced" picture like everyone's favorite news source (along with giving a little tweak to all my Republican friends).

But doesn't expending any effort to support a candidate (even voting) go against an even more central message of the book? The benefits (I assume it's the small change in your personal welfare if your candidate is elected times the probability that your personal action will change the outcome) just don't outweigh the costs. Perhaps the only people who this might make sense for are those lining the candidates' (of both parties) pockets with cash.

Question: doesn't Senator Obama's objections to t...

noreply@blogger.com (Luke Froeb) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 15:11:00 +0000

Question: doesn't Senator Obama's objections to trade deals, like NAFTA and CAFTA, go against the central message of our book?, e.g., voluntary transactions make parties better off?

You should read the article. The benefit-cost fig...

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 14:30:00 +0000

You should read the article. The benefit-cost figures cited do not apply solely to the miniature golf case you highlight but also encompasses an array of other items.

Yes, good point. But all subsidies seem to come b...

noreply@blogger.com (Russ Pittman) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 14:46:00 +0000

Yes, good point. But all subsidies seem to come bundled with incentive problems, so the idea is to find policies with the best tradeoffs of most public benefits vs. least harmful incentives. Food stamps? College tuition loans or grants? Graduated income tax? Lots of interesting research and policy design here.

if you think that education is skewing the income ...

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:54:00 +0000

if you think that education is skewing the income distribution, then you subsidize education. If you attack the income distribution directly, then you screw up the incentives to get an education.