ART AND THE BOUNCY BANKER: On Housing Starts going Down

The Bruxist Collective's take on Art and (as Alfred Jarry might put it) P'finance.

A numerically dyslexic artist (and reluctant consumer) shares his dearth of financial wisdom and resulting frustrations with his Bank Manager. Read personal letters from the elusive Art to his even more elusive Bank Manager. See a comic rendition of a Day In The Life Of The Bouncy Banker. Art struggles to make sense of the senseless as the Authorities of Finance wobble but never quite fall down. Full of hot air they float above it all! When they bounce it is with impunity! Why are there no Remorseful Bankers? Can Art and Finance ever coexist? Do you have a Blue Chip on your shoulder?

When bankers get together they talk about Art. When artists get together they talk about money. Oscar Wilde

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

On Housing Starts going Down

(COMMENT LEFT ON NPR's PLANET MONEY)

Great! Then stop building! I don't want the construction industry to keep building homes we don't need! There are so many homeowners desperate to sell let alone a gazillion foreclosed homes waiting to be snapped up at minimal cost by those with ready cash. It seems absurd to build more homes. I own a home and these days kind of wish I didn't. We've an in ground oil tank and though we've no immediate plans to sell if we did decide to do so we'd have to get the tank out of the ground before we could go ahead. Doing that is a potential nightmare. We considered being pro-active but have no tank insurance and if we found the tank was leaking we'd be screwed. We have looked into refinancing but have little financial confidence when it comes to knowing who to trust. The house is a chain around our necks. We are house poor. It needs to be painted and repaired but with its value so uncertain I am not sure pouring money into it is any different than pouring money down the drain. I certainly do not want to take out yet another loan to fix it up which is surely what any realtor would encourage me to do. We are paralyzed and I know we are not alone in this respect. Sorry if I veered off topic. (www.bouncybanker.blogspot.com)