Housing remains a frequent topic of discussion for people in North Dakota. Most of the discussion falls under the heading of “affordability”, a suitably vague term essentially guaranteeing little to no progress on the issue, if it is a problem at all. What is the affordability issue? My suspicion is that people are thinking of…
Under Obama, The Rich Have Gotten Richer
President Obama is nothing if not a class warrior, using the themes of the Occupy Wall Street movement to color his railing about the “1%” not “paying their fair share,” etc., etc. But what if it turned out the rich had actually gotten richer under President Obama’s governance? Remember too that from 2007 through 2010…
Is The Oil Patch Hotel Bubble Collapsing?
Driving down Broadway in Minot yesterday I happened to catch these signs out in front of a hotel that, not so long ago, was renting rooms for over $100 per night: Hotel occupancy rates in the city have plunged of late, to the point where it’s clear that the city has a glut of hotel…
Wells Fargo CEO: Get The Government Out Of The Home Mortgage Business
“If it wasn’t for Fannie and Freddie, [the mortgage crisis] would have been a small problem,” Wells Fargo CEO Richard Kovacevich told CNBC today. “Fannie and Freddie and other government agencies guaranteed 70 percent of those mortgages.” He’s right, of course, though Fannie and Freddie’s market penetration when far beyond that. At the time of…