There are competing visions among leaders on how to execute a stimulus plan.  They differ, not just in size but also in the classes of households or activities that they should support. 

Obama’s administration has initially suggested that the 2009 stimulus could be a place to dovetail job creation with a means for shoring up our nation’s deteriorating infrastructure.  (more…)

Today the FDIC has apparently drawn up a list of banks that it believes are moving into dangerous territory towards a potential failure. Yesterday, in fact, The Columbian Bank & Trust Company of Topeka, Kansas was shut down. The remaining assets will go into a receivership arrangement. It is the ninth bank this year that has failed. The largest, of course, is IndyMac.

It has been a tough year. We have seen the end of Bear Stearns. We may see the end of Freddie and Fannie, as we currently know them. There may be more to come.

We know why it is happening. Mortgage loans are going bad. Lots of them.

This is why I think manufactured housing has a chance to break through, right now, in redefining its image among housing policy advocates.  That involves examining the underlying motive for our interventions in housing.

But lo, I do not want to dedicate this post to asserting who is at fault for this situation. That is a good (more…)