Disgusting segment on PBS newshour - Paul Solman. Here is what I just emailed them -

[NRaleighLiberal]

Hello from Raleigh,

My wife and I watched Paul Solman's newshour segment tonight and were shocked at the faulty arguments and shallow reporting. Amongst the issues we had with the segment:

The part with Dean Baker showing how "good" this can be for those who still have money - their 500 dollar designer shoes can now be purchased at 250.00. Where is the empathy and humanity in this? Are 250.00 shoes still necessary when so many are losing so much?

The part with the three girls in Virginia who can now buy foreclosed houses - what happens when they/their husbands lose their jobs? The report was as though these people now have it made and it is just too bad for those who lost their homes. And the wonderful empathy showed by one of the rather tasteless girls - "someone loses, but someone wins". Nice sentiment - no wonder we are in trouble as a culture. Add that to the girls who said that prices are now lower so they can purchase more - have they done shopping lately ? Are prices really falling for things like gas and food? What planet to these girls live on?

Finally - the interview in the gym with the fellow who thought that there are advantages to this emergency - people who are now out of work are healthier because they eat better? Because they will work out more? Does this guy understand that those in the lowest socioeconomic classes tend to eat more poorly and of high fat and high calorie, low cost fast food? Plus do people laid off really purchase an expensive gym membership? Don't they tend to spend all of their waking hours looking for work?

Perhaps this is an attempt to put a happy face on this emergency (since the media collectively seems to be out to slam Obama on as much as they can). But a little realism would be a good thing right now. And this piece made no contribution to that - all it showed is yet another inside the beltway lack of understanding of what is really happening out there.

As a professional just laid off after a 25 year career in the Pharmaceutical industry, I can say that I did not resonate at all, or appreciate, this segment. We expect more from newshour, but it seems you expect very little from your audience, and that is a shame.

Thanks for listening,

name

[FiveGoodMen]

1. Good letter!

Good points, all.

[spanone]

2. now that the people have elected their President, the media is looking to destroy him.

[AndyA]

3. Very well written.

And done with more respect than PBS apparently gives its shows. :thumbsup:

Thanks for letting them know how most of us here in America really feel!

[paulsby]

4. house prices

I disagree with a lot of people, but the housing price crash is a GOOD thing.

All markets are subject to "bubbles". ALL. It has happened in everything from coffee to oil to sugar to tulip bulbs and to houses.

We had a perfect storm condition of low rates, loose money, and a raging bull market wherein participants (as usual in a bull market) embrace the greater fool theory instead of economic prudence. Iow, "no price is too high, if somebody will pay more for when you want to sell".

Housing prices were unsustainable - as a percentage of income (gross or disposable), and in relation to most other metrics.

I have been patiently waiting for the local market to get "reasonable" and it has. I am closing on a house right now. I did some research and the sellers bought it for 100k more than they are selling to me, a scant 2 years ago. Oops. That sucks, but if prices had stabilized or kept going up, that would be a MUCH worse situation for the country as a whole, not to mention prospective home BUYERS.

The housing bubble NEEDED to pop, and like ALL commodities the best cure for low prices - is low prices. It always works that way, and always will.

Prices also ARE a lot lower - gas is lower, many staples are lower. Recall not too long ago that rice was in a huge bubble. Not any more. It's gone WAY down in price. Local teriyaki joints were having to raise their prices, not because of the chicken, but because of the rice.

I can buy gas for less, I can buy staples for less, and even mortgages - i just locked in a 30 yr under 4.7%.

This isn't about "yay me!". It's saying that many people are hurting very badly, but the correction (which aint over yet in many markets) in all sorts of markets - from oil to corn to housing is making these things more affordable. Corn futures were in the 3.50's today iirc which is down a dollar from where they were not too long ago. Crude and heating oil are WAY down (crude is down way over 100 per barrel).

Also, as demand for houses dried up, we saw prices in lumber and other substrates dropping as well. When these get cheaper, it makes houses cheaper to build, which adds incentive for supply adds when demand meets supply on the upside.

The jobs market is proper fucked as we say. Many other aspects of economy are screwed as well. But lower prices are a feature, not a bug, of the recession.

People who used their home equity as an ATM are also proper fucked, but that is simply imprudent financing, especially at the tail end of a tired bull market. Ask any trader. Leverage can kill ya.