Month: January, 2005

Saint Augustine and Howard Jarvis

22 January, 2005 (09:12) | Uncategorized |

How we raise revenue for essential government services powerfully affects which government services we buy, and how much control customers have over those services. < ?xml:namespace prefix ="" o />
 
For two and a half decades, ever since 1980, when Massachusetts voters enacted Proposition 2½, local real estate taxes (or rates as they are called in Britain) have [...]

Fannie Mae and Jane Austen’s “Persuasion”

21 January, 2005 (09:20) | Uncategorized |

Fannie Mae has canceled plans to take a large amount of office space in southwest Washington, DC that, according to the Post:< ?xml:namespace prefix ="" o ns ="" "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
 
was more than a real estate deal. It was also meant as a symbolic gesture to show its corporate commitment to revitalizing American communities.
 
City planners viewed [...]

GSE executive bonuses and corporate culture

20 January, 2005 (10:39) | Uncategorized |

< ?xml:namespace prefix ="" o />
For stories to be sound bites (”After Scandals, Someone Must Pay“), they must be personal and simple, and what better path to simple personality than to focus on executive compensation, especially when you can add it up to big dollars:
 
Based on reported earnings that it must now correct, Fannie Mae [...]

Section 8: pressure mounts

19 January, 2005 (12:30) | Uncategorized |

< ?xml:namespace prefix ="" o /> 
World War II submarine movies always have the Deep Pressure moment: the crew watching the depth gauge spin upwards, into the red.  The hull groans.  A bolt, stressed beyond endurance, sheers off and goes ricocheting loudly off the steel casing.  A pipe bursts, and the crew starts shouting in panic:
 
 
That [...]

Amateur landlords?

17 January, 2005 (08:58) | Essential posts, Housing, Markets, Public-Private Partnerships, Tenure |

Can ordinary people own too many homes? 
A story on CNN highlights the ever-expanding market for vacation homes: 
A small but growing segment of the market is buying multiple vacation properties for their own recreation, short-term rental income and the promise of long-term appreciation. 
Though these properties are bought primarily for personal vacation use, they are also a [...]