Showing posts with label fake economy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fake economy. Show all posts

September 04, 2007

Peter Schiff lays out the mortgage meltdown and housing crash, and sets the CNN studio on fire on the way out

Nice to see him hold his own and hold it together against the CNN homedebtor reporter interviewing him, whose disrespect and "blame the messenger" attitude were kinda weird. Bottom line: He was right. He is right. And people are just now waking up to the cold hard truth.

At what point do interviews like this filter down to the sheeple on main street? At what point do they get it? At what point do ma and pa decide to put the home on the market and sell at any price?

Hat-tip Doom for the video.

March 24, 2007

New movie and book on credit-addicted Americans - Maxed Out by James Scurlock



Some smart people are starting to write books and make movies about everything we've been talking about here at HP.

The American economy isn't fine folks. People aren't doing well. All that wealth you see is just a mirage. And out of control consumerism is not a good thing.

It was all bankrolled by debt, massive, out of control debt. And now the bill is coming due.

Here's a book (and movie) on this out of control debt and addiction to credit cards - I encourage all of you to go see it, or read the book.

Deep in Debt, Deeper in Denial

"Maxed Out," a documentary that opens nationwide next week, examines the dark side of America's love affair with debt.

"Maxed Out" is directed by filmmaker James Scurlock, a Wharton business school dropout and entrepreneur. Scurlock also wrote a book based on the film, which is due out next week from Scribner, a division of Simon & Schuster.

Scurlock says he started out hoping to do a lighthearted riff on consumer irresponsibility, but was shocked by what he found: College students and housewives committing suicide over their credit card debt, and the nation's biggest banks involved in predatory lending schemes.

"I wanted to know why people are living so close to the edge," says Scurlock. "A lot of people just haven't been able to keep pace with expenses like health care, education, and housing.

"It's not in anyone's interest to have a financial industry that behaves like a used-car dealership," says Scurlock. "I think it's conservative to expect that credit will be regulated in this country. People need to have to have strong financial industry that's trusted -- and to the extent that that erodes, that's very bad for the country and the economy."

Why, I asked Scurlock, don't people understand this? Why do so many consumers buy things on credit and then pay double for them over time? Why do they sacrifice what they want most in life for what they want this very second?

It's pretty simple, Scurlock says: "I think there's a lot of denial. Most people can't do the math. There is very little, if any, focus on the balance sheet side of the equation."