Which will help our economy more, long-term?

[El Pinko]

Which will help our economy more, long-term?

[Arctic Dave]

1. Is this the warm up question?

[El Pinko]

3. It's the question our media are failing, every time it's asked.

I cannot count the number of stories I've seen in "business" media saying that what we need to do is to get house prices rising again.

That is exactly what we do not need to do, IMO.

[Arctic Dave]

6. I agree with you.

I don't see how reinflating ridiculous prices will help anything until a base is provided to support the cost of a house we are wasting time setting the next pop in the new bubble.

[girl gone mad]

7. They were cheerleading the crazy run-up, too.

Nevermind that the inflated prices were crushing young families and singles. And nevermind that it was all based on crazy lending schemes, not actual wage increases or demographics.

Prices have to fall or wages have to go up sharply. The alternative is indentured servitude for anyone who didn't own or didn't hasn't had the value of their home rise dramatically over the past decade.

[El Pinko]

2. NT

NT

[Roland99]

4. #2 will have some negligible effect. The best solution, long-term? a PAINFUL one

let it all burn. let it all crash and burn.

Suffer a horrible bout of inflation and job loss but stop Wall Street from creating unregulated investment vehicles that stretch the imagination in terms of how they become over-leveraged.

As Bud Burrell states near the end of this interview:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4226064

It's a draconian solution but there is really is no other way.

[dgibby]

5. My Choice: Feeding the Republicans to the poor.

Should help with the grocery bills.

[GoodSpud]

8. Cruel and Unusual

No one should have to eat Republican.

Just sayin...

T.D.P.

[TahitiNut]

9. The median (NOT the average) wage must come closer to affording the median home price.

Folks turned their homes into their retirement "nest-eggs" ... buying 'up' in their earning power years and planning to buy 'down' (in a warm climate) in their retirement years. The predatory lenders and derivative speculators robbed MANY working people of their retirement nest-eggs. Real estate prices were FAR more reliable than the stock market in consistently keeping up with inflation. High priced areas like the SFBay Area, LA, New York City, and other low unemployment and growth areas hosted the housing boom. The sun belt hosted the retirees.

Rather than wipe out more of what folks have saved in their homes, wages and salaries MUST be made more equitable. We can begin with another increase in the minimum wage. Soon.

[B Calm]

10. #3 Pouring 700 billion into rebuilding our infrastructure.