Links To Go #7.1
There will probably be two LTGs today, hence the 7.1 title. It’s one of those days.
[in The Guardian, UK]
“The fact is we are no longer in a downturn, we are hurtling into a crash…
Yesterday, Savills warned that prices in London might fall 25% in the next 18 months; and that would reverberate across the country.
No one in their right mind would buy a house now, unless they are forced to. Why pay £100,000 for a home when it will be £10,000, or maybe £20,000 less within the year? If the Bank of England raises interest rates again to contain inflation, it might be worth even less.
New build construction is down 60%, the lowest since the war, and housebuilders are mothballing half-built homes. Mortgages are fast becoming like truffles - hard to find and very expensive.
Savills reckons the market has moved from a credit squeeze, to a credit crunch, and is now a credit crisis.”
2. Mortgagees Destroying Their Homes [YouTube]
[ via Calculated Risk]
People in the States are ruining homes that have been foreclosed on. I’ve observed before that discipline and property go hand in hand. Once something’s not “theirs” — though it never was in fact — destruction is an open option.
3. UK Households face 40% fuel bill rise
This is going to hurt, because bills are already excruciatingly high in the UK. If we get a cold winter this year, people are going to die because of this.
“Dr Paul Golby, the chief executive of E.ON UK, told the Commons business and enterprise committee: “We are facing a seismic shift in commodity prices. Oil, gas and coal prices had risen by 60% over the last four months. It is not difficult to see the pressure is upwards.”
The average dual fuel bill, covering gas and electricity, has risen to almost £1,050, according to consumer watchdog Energy Watch, up 15% already this year. However, there has been speculation that bills might have to rise by another 40% to cover increases in wholesale prices since the last price rises.”
Compare this to Germany, where my rental contract comes “warm”, that is with heating included.
4. Iraqis “owe” the US 100 year contracts on their oil
Last week, the New York Times reported that four Western oil companies — Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total, and BP — are in the final stages of negotiating no-bid oil contracts “to service Iraq’s largest fields.” These contracts would run for one to two years, and give the oil companies a “foothold” in bidding on future contracts.
5. Greenspan: Economy on brink of recession
Is that the sound of the fat lady singing?
“There are still very considerable structural problems remaining in the financial system. They will remain for a while. It’s going to be very difficult. There are a lot of unexpected adverse events out in front of us,” Greenspan said.
“The problem that you have here is that … significant pressures are coming from oil and food, but they are none the less real,” he said. “The price increases are real and unless the central bank leans against them … you will get a highly unstable inflation environment.”
6. Jack Bauer, You Have So Much To Answer For
A new poll of citizens’ attitudes about torture in 19 nations finds Americans among the most accepting of the practice. Although a slight majority say torture should be universally prohibited, 44 percent think torture of terrorist suspects should be allowed, and more than one in 10 think torture should generally be allowed. Anyone who thinks this is NOT to do with Fox’s “24″ show can go to the back of the class.
