A volatile week
Monday. “Things are happening and happening faster than we expected,” says one of the co-authors of the draft report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The draft report will conclude that there is a generation to stabilize greenhouse gases in which case “most major impacts on human welfare would be avoided: but some major impacts on ecosystems are expected to occur.”
Tuesday. The Miami Herald reports that prominent Miami Dade lobbyist Rodney Barreto is part of the lobbying team that netted $7.2 from the State of Florida for a few acres of submerged bay bottom simultaneously purchased by the lobbying firm’s client from an octogenarian widow for $445,000. Barreto, a key fundraiser for Jeb Bush, is chair of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission whose mission includes protecting bay bottom.
Dow Jones Industrial Average slides 242.66 after a report on mortgage defaults indicated that the troubled housing market “will weaken further before showing signs of improvement”, according to the New York Times.
Wednesday. Asian markets follow the Dow down. A financial analyst says to the Wall Street Journal, “An easy-money environment in the region has fueled appetite for risky assets, including real estate, and that may be ending.” In China, credit records generally don’t exist, making it difficult to assess creditworthiness, according to the Journal.
Thursday. South Florida managers react to the major drought affecting the region by slapping water use restrictions on Floridians. The Miami Herald reports that the limitations “are likely only the start.”
Friday. Wall Street slumps on news of “somewhat stiff inflation data” a money manager tells the New York Times.
Saturday. The Miami Herald reports a string of unfolding scandals at the county transit agency, where Mayor Carlos Alvarez fired the director, Roosevelt Bradley. Bradley aroused the ire of county manager George Burgess by seeking to add $19 million to a 7-year “superconsulting contract” worth $84 million. The Herald does not identify the lobbyists.
Sunday. In a Sunday letter to the editor of the Miami Herald, Nikki Poulos of Miami, who owns a $175,000 with a low fixed rate mortgage, explains how skyrocketing costs of living are putting her at risk, “I now pay more than 50 percent of my salary for mortgage, taxes and insurance.”
We wonder how many Americans who belong to the “ownership society” are paying, like Ms. Poulos, 50 percent of disposable income on housing. Beneath the subprime mortgage fiasco, there is a fountain of pain building up in households persuaded to spend more than reasonable on housing.
One definition of volatile: by chemistry, to be readily vaporized.
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