Subprime seriousness.
"Foreclosed: State of the Dream 2008," a report from the Boston-based organization United for a Fair Economy, explains how the subprime mortgage debacle may lead to the greatest loss of wealth for people of color in modern U.S. history. "Leaving homeownership to the dictates and uncertainty of the private...

The coming recession: seven observers the (sorry) state of the economy.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] AS THIS ISSUE of reason goes to press, the dollar is at a record low against the euro, oil is more than $100 a barrel, consumer prices are up 4 percent from a year ago, and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is cutting interest rates...

Monetary mayhem: the world's central bankers are creating currency and "out of thin air" at an astounding rate. The consequences will be devastating.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Gold fever is back, with futures surging to an all-time high above $880 an ounce on January 8, after enjoying a run-up in 2007 of nearly 32 percent against the dollar. Gold for February delivery hit $880.30 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange,...

From www.cp-dr.com.
Our blog on www.cp-dr.com has been full of stories about the effect of global climate change on cities, sustainability and the housing foreclosure mess. We also have offered regular updates from the American Planning Association convention in Las Vegas. Here are some of the blog entries we have posted...

Subprime fallout: Congress, industry groups respond to rising mortgage foreclosures.
At an April 17 hearing to explore possible responses to the rising home mortgage foreclosure rates, Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, heard testimony from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Federal Housing Administration, the mortgage industry and consumer organizations. The hearing was held to...

Keeping the homeownership dream alive: with foreclosures at an all-time high, lawmakers are working to help people keep their homes.
Long touted as the American dream, homeownership is at its highest ever. But with rising interest rates and the growing number of houses in foreclosure, owning a home may be some people's worst nightmare. Buying a home can be a confusing, complicated transaction--and cost a lot of...

Bernanke's bind: the Fed chairman is in the impossible position of trying to raise the price of real estate while lowering the costs of food and fuel.
YOU MAY BE ABLE to go up the down escalator or you may be able to go down the up escalator, but until now nobody has been able to do both at the same time, which is what the U.S. is attempting. The United States is struggling...

Subprime survival: everything you need to know for life after the bubble.
The party's over. After six years of easy credit and spiraling values, the increasingly frenzied credit and real estate action abruptly shifted course in the summer of 2007 as the subprime loan market started to self-destruct. Former Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan's warning about "irrational exuberance" during the dot-com...

Housing market slowdown could stall or change state's urban transition.
It's undeniable: California is in the worst housing bust since the early 1990s. Sales have dropped by a third compared with last year. Prices are stable for now, but nobody knows what will happen once all those bank repos hit the market. And it's pretty clear that developers all...

Foreclosed dreams.
The foreclosure crisis facing three million Americans and swamping the entire economy right now is the direct result of foolish free market policies. The solution to the crisis cannot be left to that same flawed market. ...