[GJM] James Robertson

[Rodney Shakespeare]

Dear Peter,

With reference to your reply to Steven Nieman on home loans.

1.    You appear to be convinced of the virtues of the present American 'free market' and refer to contracts freely entered into by the parties.  In your view, are the "sub-prime" mortgages now damaging the financial system freely entered into by the parties?  

Moreover, do you generally approve of them and the circumstances which produced them?

2.  If the banking system were to be limited in its present ability to create money out of nothing,  would you think it a good idea for home loans (ultimately coming from the national bank) to be issued at 0% interest (but, of course, with an administration cost)?  Plus,  of course, criminal penalties for deliberate falsifications of income and valuation.

3.  You ask what planet Steve Nieman lives on.

That is a most interesting question.  May  I ask if, taking account of the  failings now becoming apparent in the American (and global) financial system, you feel that people in the USA are living on the best of all possible planets?

Thankyou.

Rodney Shakespeare.



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Peter Hogwood" <p_t_hogwood at yahoo.com>
To: "Discussion Forum for Global Justice" <discussion at globaljusticemovement.net>
Sent: Friday, March 21, 2008 6:53 AM
Subject: Re: [GJM] James Robertson


"When a 30-yr mortgage loan that supposedly *buys*
home-sweet-home costs the borrower over three times
the initial value of the house/land property -- people
need to take the initiative and assert this is highway
robbery."
---------------------------------------------

It certainly isn't highway robbery because it is a
contract freely entered to by the parties.  And the
multiple in interest over the term of the loan depends
on the rate of interest.  It is three times only at a
relatively high rate of interest over the full span of
thirty years.  And the effective multiple depends on
the rate of inflation during that thirty years.  The
higher the rate of inflation the smaller is the
effective multiple.

The thirty year mortgage has, since the end of World
War 2, has allowed some seventy percent of the
American population to now live in their own
homes--something that is unprecedented in the history
of the world.

You are against something that is important to the
American way of life.

I wonder what planet you would prefer to live on.

Peter



--- Steve Nieman <stevenieman at mac.com> wrote:

> People got to wake up and stop sleep walking through
> their lives.   
> (True, boogeymen at night in dreams aren't as scary
> as those in  
> waking life.  But then again, how much fun would
> this experience be  
> if everything was safe and easy? or we stayed in bed
> all day..?)
> 
> Do you see most people simply reacting to what this
> unjust monetary  
> system does to them?  What people need to do is take
> the lead.  Start  
> new corps, new banks, new insurance companies -- and
> set them up  
> right to truly serve the common good.
> 
> When a 30-yr mortgage loan that supposedly *buys*
> home-sweet-home  
> costs the borrower over three times the initial
> value of the house/ 
> land property -- people need to take the initiative
> and assert this  
> is highway robbery.  With a governmental/corporate
> money/credit/ 
> financing system like this, who needs the Mafia?
> 
> We can't build a productive, sustainable worldwide
> economy using this  
> failed system.  Evidence is galore.  Time for
> change.
> 
> Regards,
> Steve Nieman
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> On Mar 20, 2008, at 1:19 PM, chris cook wrote:
> 
> > Nice to see that the ice is melting in the
> mainstream media.
> >
> >
>
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/james_robertson/2008/03/
> 
> > james_robertson_money_from_thi.html
> >
> > Such Financial Pornography is rare indeed.
> >
> > Maybe the search for alternatives is now on?
> Hopefully it will be  
> > in the print version tomorrow....
> >
> > Best Regards
> >
> > Chris Cook


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