4 in 10 Americans are Worried about Their Debt (PR Newswire via Yahoo! Finance)
Bankrate, Inc. today published the findings of a national poll which determined that 61% of Americans carry non-mortgage debt.
Q&A: Overvalued Markets; The ‘Affordable’ Mortgage (WallStreet Journal via Yahoo! Finance)
People care a lot about real estate prices. A recent column arguing that bubble markets remain heavily overvalued generated a lot of reader interest. Here are responses to some of the most common questions.
Is $3 Billion Enough for Ambac?
So, the market was abuzz Friday afternoon with news of a potential bailout of Ambac Financial Group. As more clarity on what may be happening emerged over the weekend, the enthusiasm has eroded, replaced by a lot of head-scratching. The main question would be, is that all there is? The proposed bailout, according to today s Wall Street Journal, is for a $3 billion capital infusion from a consortium of banks with big exposures to debt that would stand to lose a lot of value if monoline insurer
The NYT Also Doesn’t Know that House Prices Can Fall
At least they didn’t bother to mention it in this article on bailout plans that would have the government guarantee or buy up bad mortgage debt. Given that house prices are now falling at their fastest rate since the Great Depression, it might have been worth considering this possibility. –Dean Baker