How Conservatives Could Fix The Economy (But Lose the Credit)
You know, the conservatives in the country have a problem. The problem is this: they could advocate ways to solve (or alleviate, at least) the economic problems in this country - but if they did, Obama would end up getting the credit somehow.
I bring this up because I think there is a great method by which conservative activists could help the change the flow of money in this country on their own, without the help of government (which I feel is their chief aim).
More and more now there are websites whereby everyday people can make loans to other people. If someone like Glenn Beck were to publicly champion these websites as a way to go outside the system and have the community help itself, it might end up pouring a flood of money into that market which might create new possibilities.
Usually (I think), these websites are for personal loans. But what if they were expanded to include small business loans and the like?
Of course, business could be solving this problem without the help of government already. The main problem as it stands (in my understanding) is people not being able to pay their mortgages and credit being frozen all over the place. There was an episode of This American Life where they profiled a business that was helping homeowners adjust their mortgage rates and the report said that the big banks and companies that held tons of mortgages didn't have departments that did this and it would take them forever to create them.
The question in my mind is: why can't new businesses crop up - using the model of the business TAL profiled - to take care of all these people? (1. It might be because - as I read on MSN recently - the mortgage holders or money collecters have no incentive to help homeowners.) But let's make it larger than that and try to tie in some other national issues. What if the Wall Street banks were to take the money they were going to use for bonuses and bought up a bunch of mortgages and lowered people's rates? Even with lower rates, if they made it affordable for the homeowner, they could create a guaranteed income stream for themselves. That could free up a lot of people to relax and refocus on what bills they're paying; maybe pay down some debt - which would help the credit card people recover - which would free up credit for other people which might make things more fluid in the economy. (It all seems so simple! Which probably means it's not.)
Still, that private companies are not addressing the housing problem (by creating departments to focus on adjusting mortgages) or realizing that working on it could help the economy at large (which would swell back on them) I think is a travesty.
Maybe what this needs is a pilot program to take place in one city (or even neighborhood) and have 20 (or 200) mortgages adjusted and see what it does to the local economy. Now that is something that could be suggested to the President - either for a grant to do the study or for the FHA to set up a program to try it and see how it works out.
I bring this up because I think there is a great method by which conservative activists could help the change the flow of money in this country on their own, without the help of government (which I feel is their chief aim).
More and more now there are websites whereby everyday people can make loans to other people. If someone like Glenn Beck were to publicly champion these websites as a way to go outside the system and have the community help itself, it might end up pouring a flood of money into that market which might create new possibilities.
Usually (I think), these websites are for personal loans. But what if they were expanded to include small business loans and the like?
Of course, business could be solving this problem without the help of government already. The main problem as it stands (in my understanding) is people not being able to pay their mortgages and credit being frozen all over the place. There was an episode of This American Life where they profiled a business that was helping homeowners adjust their mortgage rates and the report said that the big banks and companies that held tons of mortgages didn't have departments that did this and it would take them forever to create them.
The question in my mind is: why can't new businesses crop up - using the model of the business TAL profiled - to take care of all these people? (1. It might be because - as I read on MSN recently - the mortgage holders or money collecters have no incentive to help homeowners.) But let's make it larger than that and try to tie in some other national issues. What if the Wall Street banks were to take the money they were going to use for bonuses and bought up a bunch of mortgages and lowered people's rates? Even with lower rates, if they made it affordable for the homeowner, they could create a guaranteed income stream for themselves. That could free up a lot of people to relax and refocus on what bills they're paying; maybe pay down some debt - which would help the credit card people recover - which would free up credit for other people which might make things more fluid in the economy. (It all seems so simple! Which probably means it's not.)
Still, that private companies are not addressing the housing problem (by creating departments to focus on adjusting mortgages) or realizing that working on it could help the economy at large (which would swell back on them) I think is a travesty.
Maybe what this needs is a pilot program to take place in one city (or even neighborhood) and have 20 (or 200) mortgages adjusted and see what it does to the local economy. Now that is something that could be suggested to the President - either for a grant to do the study or for the FHA to set up a program to try it and see how it works out.
posted by Michael | 4:26 AM
|
0 comments
