A reader wrote in requesting an update to this February post, in which I criticized Nancy Pelosi’s misleading chart of job losses. Here’s an update to the post-WWII job loss chart, courtesy of Calculated Risk, in which I’ve added a mark so you can see where the “stimulus” was passed. Wow, good thing we changed…
Category: Opinion
Opinion, commentary, etc.
Can the NWMLS Control Online Conversations About Listings?
I linked this up last week on the Twitter account, but the story has been getting enough chit chat online in the last few days that I figure it deserves its own post here. In news first broken by local REALTOR® Marlow Harris, the NWMLS will apparently be adding two new ways to fine their…
$8,000 Tax Credit: To Extend or Not to Extend?
As the expiration date on the first-time homebuyer $8,000 tax credit nears, talk is stirring about renewing and expanding the scheme. Here’s a brief rundown of some of the varying related pieces I’ve been following from around the web. First up, we’ve got the National Ass. of Realtors pushing hard on their members to “Write…
Fiduciary Standards in Lending and on Wall Street: Can it Work?
Question for discussion: In Washington State, can Loan Officers operate within the framework of a Fiduciary duty to their clients when the lending industry is structured with incentives that may be in conflict with the new standard? Jane Kim of the Wall Street Journal wrote an excellent article in this past weekend’s issue regarding Wall…
Federal Government Shifting Focus to Rentals
Sorry, this isn’t a Seattle-specific story, but it caught my attention this weekend as it seems like a major policy shift on the national level: President shifts focus to renting, not owning The Obama administration, in a major shift on housing policy, is abandoning George W. Bush’s vision of creating an “ownership society” and instead…