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Under the new plan, unveiled Friday, March 26, banks will be asked to lower the principal loan balance for certain homeowners whose mortgages exceed the value of their homes. The loans would be refinanced as mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), fully backed by the government. In the past, loan modifications under the $50 billion federal Home Modification Program (HAMP) involved primarily reducing interest rates or lengthening the term of the mortgage, and most did not entail a government guarantee. (See high-end homes that won't sell...
...independent Consumer Financial Protection Agency, but such an institution is vital. Complex financial products wrought destruction on everyone from pension fund-owners to everyday homeowners. An independent CFPA would regulate financial “innovations” such as clever securitization schemes and subprime mortgages that harm lower-income Americans and pension funds while risking the stability of the economy as a whole. The Senate bill currently has a CFPA under the purview of the Federal Reserve Bank, however the creation of an independent agency would give it greater stature and thus the power and influence to adequately...
...that the recent government initiatives could lead to a hard landing. In Beijing, vast swaths of commercial space sit vacant - including floors of retail space right next to the iconic Water Cube, the swimming venue for the 2008 Olympics. According to Colliers, commercial rents are now a shade lower than they were last year and residential prices have also begun to weaken. Residential prices, according to China Reality Research data, peaked late last year and are now headed down...
...since they were introduced by Otto von Bismarck, the "Iron Chancellor," in the 1880s. Bismarck's system - designed to win over workers and increase productivity - guaranteed every citizen social insurance, including a pension, national health insurance and disability benefits. Westerwelle thinks that should change, and is also pushing for lower taxes and a new simplified tax system. The opposition Social Democrats branded him a "sociopolitical arsonist" while the Greens warned that the welfare state would be pared back to a "social ice age." Merkel was not amused, either. "I've made it clear that what Guido Westerwelle said...
...masked Taliban fighters appear at houses and threaten to behead people if they work with the government. The insurgents need the farmers to stick with the poppy. According to U.N. experts, last year the Taliban reaped nearly $300 million from the drug trade; Afghan officials put the figure far lower, from $80 million to $100 million. Even at the low estimate, says a Western counternarcotics agent, "that's still enough to fuel the insurgency for a year." Nearly all of the Taliban's drug profits came from Helmand province, and a big chunk came from Marjah...