FDIC Insuring 8,200 Banks with $9 Trillion in Deposits and Zero in the Deposit Insurance Fund. Calling Banks to Prepay Assessment of $45 Billion.
The FDIC has greatly underestimated the problems of our nation’s banking system. Earlier in the week the FDIC proposed that banks put up $45 billion to protect bank depositors. The average American must be amazed that a system backing $9 trillion in deposits is essentially broke. Clearly the FDIC has the backing of the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve but there is some irony in having the FDIC tell banks to pay an early assessment to protect our money. These banks are going to use bail out money to pay to protect taxpayer deposits! The banking system is going to have some deep and profound issues as the $3 trillion in commercial real estate loans go bad in the next few years.
Option ARMs in Financial Pain: 900,000 Mortgages and 1 out of 4 either Seriously Delinquent or in Foreclosure. OCC and OTS Report Shows Foreclosures Still Growing.
It is interesting to see new data being published regarding Option ARMs in the new OCC and OTS report. According to the recently released report, there were 900,000 active Payment Option ARMs in the United States. What is troubling about the current report is the performance of these loans. Many of these loans are located in the depressed states of California and Florida that have dealt with record breaking budget problems. These loans have the potential to once again destabilize the housing markets in these regions.
The Long Lost City of Detroit: The Economic and Financial Pain of Motor City. How Detroit went from 1.8 Million to 912,000 Residents. 28.9 Percent Unemployment.
There is no other city in the United States that highlights the Achilles Heel of the current financial crisis like Detroit Michigan. Detroit Michigan had a booming population from 1870 to 1950. In 1870 Detroit had 79,577 residents and in 1950 Detroit had a stunning 1.8 million. The massive boom came with the growth of the U.S. auto industry. The nickname Motor City was aptly deserved as Detroit became a powerhouse of economic growth. Yet all that has now changed. Detroit now has 912,062 residents, a decline of 50 percent from the peak in 1950 and those leaving the city continue. Detroit isn’t in a recession but an economic depression.
35 Million Americans on Food Stamps: 12 Percent of U.S. Population on Food Stamps Highest Since Records Kept in 1969.
There are a few statistics that you can look at to see actual human pain in the real economy. You can look at the recent stock market rally yet even a 50+ percent rally is unable to create jobs or stem the economic pain of those at the lower end of the economic spectrum. Looking at food stamp participation from the United States Department of Agriculture shows us a very disturbing picture. When we did a report on this in August of 2009 we had 34 million Americans on food stamps. In the span of one month, the number jumped by over a million.