“One out of every two hundred homes will be foreclosed every month, making 205,000 new families enter into foreclosure,” Mortgage Bankers Association. The housing industry in the United States is undergoing an unfortunate crisis. There are way too many homes being foreclosed, which cause a ripple of problems.
President Obama has been brave to take office in a time of need. Creating plans like the Recovery Act is a wonderful start in fixing this problem. Unfortunately much more needs to be done in order to see the light on the other side.
First off the United States economy, in general, needs to improve. Economy is like a domino effect, and now it is hitting the housing industry. Our unemployment rate is up to about 10%. Banks are not prospering like in the past. Tons of Americans are in debt; by the end of 2008 Americans reached a $972.73 billion debt due to credit cards.
In the 1930’s President Roosevelt came up with several plans to get people working again. Some of those, including Civilian Conservation Corps, Works Progress Administration and Public Works Administration, were successful. We could apply those same types of programs to our society today. During Roosevelt’s term government was very involved and had a lot of power. Even though some people were against that idea, I think putting the government a bit more in control would help move things along faster and smoother.
The President needs to get citizens without jobs working again. He could set up work programs for citizens to plant trees, build parks, assemble playgrounds, grow gardens, paint murals or even put on live performances. All of these things would not only give people jobs, but it would bring people together and allow families to bond. That is one o...
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...our weeks ago it was down to 5%. It is now currently 5.24%, which is a big jump for only four weeks. Mortgages are through banks, so that is money they are losing since it is so low right now. Credit card interest rates need to drop so mortgages can get back to where they were. It is more expensive for the people, but it would compensate for credit cards.
The foreclosure crisis has no simple solution since so many things affect it, but fixing each thing one by one will gradually help. Incentives for people to buy are fantastic ideas. The $8,000 tax credit to first time homeowners is a good start. There could be others that don’t exclude current homeowners. The first few months’ mortgage could be paid for, or provide furnished houses. President Obama is very intellectual and I think he has the capacity to make wise decisions and fix our foreclosure crisis.
The Great Depression was one of the greatest challenges that the United States faced during the twentieth century. It sidelined not only the economy of America, but also that of the entire world. The Depression was unlike anything that had been seen before. It was more prolonged and influential than any economic downturn in the history of the United States. The Depression struck fear in the government and the American people because it was so different. Calvin Coolidge even said, "In other periods of depression, it has always been possible to see some things which were solid and upon which you could base hope, but as I look about, I now see nothing to give ground to hope—nothing of man." People were scared and did not know what to do to address the looming economic crash. As a result of the Depression’s seriousness and severity, it took unconventional methods to fix the economy and get it going again. Franklin D. Roosevelt and his administration had to think outside the box to fix the economy. The administration changed the role of the government in the lives of the people, the economy, and the world. As a result of the abnormal nature of the Depression, the FDR administration had to experiment with different programs and approaches to the issue, as stated by William Lloyd Garrison when he describes the new deal as both assisting and slowing the recovery. Some of the programs, such as the FDIC and works programs, were successful; however, others like the NIRA did little to address the economic issue. Additionally, the FDR administration also created a role for the federal government in the everyday lives of the American people by providing jobs through the works program and establishing the precedent of Social Security...
Franklin D. Roosevelt once asserted “I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people,” in belief for a change, for a better nation, and for guidance to those who have lost all faith in humanity. During the Great Depression, the United States faced many different scenarios in which it caused people to doubt and question the “American Dream.” The Great Depression began in 1929 and ended in 1939. In these ten years, people went through unemployment, poverty, banks failed and people lost hope. President Herbert Hoover thought it wasn’t his responsibility to try and fix such issues in the nation.
Franklin D. Roosevelt thought that more government power and involvement in the market would help the economy. Mistakenly he thought that the United States should exhibit the ideals of the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union destroyed Russia, but luckily the United States did not end up like that. Roosevelt’s “alphabet soup” did not help the economy in the United States. Instead, it exacerbated and prolonged the Great Depression. The National Recovery Administration and the Tennessee Valley Authority were like the French and British colonies in Africa, you invest too much money but you gain zero profit out of them. In the end, Roosevelt’s policies hurt and prolonged suffering of American people in the name of promoting his ideals.
(Klein) President Roosevelt took many of these ideas and put money into public works to give people jobs, as well as giving subsidies to farms to keep food supplies constant and accessible. Advocates of this approach claim it to have been successful, and many of the programs that were set up during the New Deal softened the blow of the 2009 recession decades later. Though these reforms did little to stop the recession from occurring in the first place, they did allow people the ability to weather the storm for a few years while the economy stabilized. Removing them would only leave open the people who would be hurt the most in another
President Roosevelt initiated the only program that could pull the U.S. out of the Great Depression. Roosevelt’s New Deal got the country through one of the worst financial catastrophe the U.S. has ever been through. Diggerhistory.info biography on FDR states,” In March 13 million people were unemployed… In his first “Hundred Days”, he proposed, and Congress enacted, a sweeping program to bring recovery to business and agriculture, relief to the unemployed and those in danger of losing their farms and homes”(Digger History Biography 1). Roosevelt’s first hundred days brought relief to the unemployed. He opened the AAA (Agriculture Adjustment Administration) and the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps.). The administration employed many young men in need of jobs all around the country. Roosevelt knew that the economy’s biggest problem was the widespread unemployment. Because of Roosevelt’s many acts and agencies, lots of young men and women around the country were getting jobs so the economy was healing. According to Roosevelt’s biography from the FDR Presidential Library and Museum, “Another Flurry of New Deal Legislation followed in 1935, including the WPA (Work Projects Admi...
Through his many programs designed to help the economy, laborers, and all people lacking civil rights, President Roosevelt did not put an end to the Great Depression. However, he did adapt the federal government to a newly realized role of protector for the people. Perhaps Roosevelt’s greatest blunders occurred in his attempts to fix the economy. The Nation claimed that “some [of his programs] assisted and some retarded the recovery of industrial activity.” They went so far as to say that “six billion dollars was added to the national debt.”
“The housing market will get worse before it gets better” –James Wilson. The collapse of the United States housing market in in 2008 was one of the most devastating moments for the world economy. The United Sates being arguably the most important and powerful nation in the world really brought everyone down with this event. Canada was very lucky, thanks to good planning and proper preventatives to avoid what happened to the United States. There were many precursor events that occurred that showed a distinct path that led to the collapse of the housing market. People were buying house way out of their range because of low interest rates, the banks seemingly easily giving out massive loans and banks betting against the housing market. There were
The Sub-Prime Mortgage Crisis of 2008 has been the largest financial crisis to take place since the end of the Great Depression. It was the actions of individuals and companies that caused this crisis. For although it could have been adverted, too much money was being made by too many people in place of authority to think deeply on the situation. As such, by the time actions were taken to attempt to rectify the situation, it was already too late. Trillions of dollar of tax payers’ money was spent trying to repair the situation that was caused by the breakdown of ethics and accountability in the private sector. And despite the government’s actions to attempt to contain the crisis, hundreds of thousands lives were negatively affected before, during, and after this crisis.
The United States was in a very tough spot economically during the start of Roosevelt’s tenure. As soon as Franklin D. Roosevelt became President, he immediately went to work trying to fight the negative effects that The Great Depression brought upon the U.S. economy. Roosevelt’s Social Security program of 1935 established the nation’s “first insurance program for the elderly, in addition to providing aid to the blind, disabled, elderly, unemployed, and minor dependent children (Champagne et al.). The U.S. government promised Americans that they would fund Roosevelt’s new federal programs as long as states “met specific administrative guidelines” (Champagne et al.). Lyndon B. Johnson expanded on Roosevelt’s programs during his presidency by establishing the Medicare and Medicaid programs that provided health insurance for elderly and poverty-stricken individuals.
dropped 10.9% causing the home market to suffer. Individuals who have subprime mortgagees to finance these less expensive homes are often times forced into foreclosure due to substantial rate changes. In affect, the economy faces acontinuing negative cycle of subprime delinquencies that result in tighter credit and lower home prices.17 A worsening of the American housing market will negatively affect the consumers confidence while at the same time worsening the American economy.18
Overspending by Americans in the Roaring Twenties, the increase in bank offered credit, the rise and final crash of the stock market all took part in causing the Great Depression (“The Great Depression”, n.d.). These were times the wealthy saved their money and the middle class had taken on too much debt putting them in the same place as the poverty-stricken. Proceeds in this time made by the owners of the manufactures and other profitable companies were held close at hand. Workers couldn’t keep up with the times nor were their pockets becoming larger at the larger demands were upon them; thus, most losing their jobs in the end. Disbursement of monies was hugely lopsided and President Hoover with his minimalist approach did not try to correct this. When he won his election, he had led the nation to believe the U.S. was well on its way to ending poverty altogether; however, within an instant, this dream and his words fell short. His support from the people lowered every year he was in office and finally crashed as did the stock market.
It is true that Roosevelt is one of the nation’s favorite presidents; Mr. Roosevelt however, did get America in to a large amount of debt. Many people scrutinize FDR for his tactics and ideas. For example, citizens look at Uncle Sam as a symbol of freedom and prosperity, but when critics released a political cartoon (Doc F), showing Uncle Sam being tied down by the many organizations that FDR created, their views quickly changed. Some Americans realized that his organizations were hindering the nation and causing the market to slow down (Doc E) while others believed his organizations were the core of the nation’s debt. When a great deal of money is spent by the government, the only way to get it back is through taxes. Since FDR did not raise taxes and continued to spend money, America’s citizens got out of debt while the governments’ debt got steeper. One other cartoon depicts children, who represent his new organizations, in a ring around Roosevelt singing, “Ring around a Roosevelt, pockets full of dough” (Doc G), suggesting that FDR has money to go around. Eventually in 1937, FDR de...
Whenever an investment is made there is risk that accompanies it, the higher the risk of the investment, the higher the expected return. The same is true with the real estate market, and the mortgages banks issue. Each loan a bank gives out to a customers is an investment. To a prime borrower banks could loan them money at a stable, fairly low interest rate because these borrowers have a low risk of defaulting. However during the real estate boom banks were able to lend a large amount of subprime mortgages, mortgagees given to less than prime borrowers, with an inflated interest rate to make up the risk of these borrowers defaulting. “Overall, the subprime market was $600 billion in 2006, 20 percent of the $3 trillion mortgage market, according to Inside Mortgage Finance. In 2001, subprime loans made ups just 5.6 percent of mortgage dollars.” (Kratz, 2007) Banks were lending out to subprime borrowers at a lower teaser rate, giving borrowers an affordable payment because the interest rate was held artificially low until the teaser rate period was ov...
Affordable housing in the United States describes sheltering units with well-adjusted housing costs for those living on an average, median income. The phrase usually implies to applied rental or purchaser housing within the financial means of lower-income ranges specific to the demographics of any given area. However, affordable housing does not include those living in social housing owned by government and non-profit organizations. More specifically, the targeted range for housing affordability sets below 30 percent of a household's annual income, including all applicable taxes, utility costs and home owners insurance rates. If the mean income per household breaches the 30 percent mark, then the agreed status becomes labeled as "unaffordable" by most recognizable financial institutions.
There is a solution to the Foreclosure Crisis. I do not propose that this is my own answer, but that it is born out of Love. The love for all my family and friends and the country as a whole is the reason for this proposal. Their fates and indeed the fates of our way of life in America depend on what we do at this time in history. The admiration and love for the foundation on which this country was established is an additional motivating factor. Needless to say we can neither turn our backs on all those who have shed blood and even given their very lives for the principles of our America. To allow this jewel of freedom and prosperity to falter and deteriorate would be the most monumental political plunder ever recorded. We can not afford to blow this opportunity.