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Some Fascinating Numbers

By
Services for Real Estate Pros with TheHousingGuru.com

Here are a few interesting numbers and facts I recently discovered. I think they should cause us to question the both the direction our country seems to be headed as well as the priorities we seem to have either selected or which have been thrust upon us.

 

The list, known as The Carper's Index provides some fascinating reading for those who enjoy factoids.

 

I’ve shown some of the more glaring ones below:

 

Wall Street bonus pool estimate for 2009: $140 billion

Combined budget deficit estimate for 50 states in 2010: $142 billion


Ratio of bank failures to bank creations the third quarter: 50:3

The last year three or fewer banks were created in a quarter: 1945


Combined assets of "problem banks": $345.9 billion

FDIC Insurance fund balance at the end of 2007: $52.4 billion


Number of bank lobbyists in Washington: 2,370

Amount spent by financial industry lobbyists this year through Oct. 26: $334 million

 

This comes from The PEJ News, and those who wish to see the entire list click HERE

From PEJ News, the Peace, Earth and Justice News at http://www.PEJ.org

 

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Comments (18)

Jeana Cowie
RE/MAX Real Estate Limited - Paramus, NJ
Broker Associate, ABR, CRS, GRI, SRES

John,

Yikes talk about the writing being on the wall! These stats are very, very sad!!

Dec 29, 2009 08:30 AM
John Mulkey
TheHousingGuru.com - Waleska, GA
Housing Guru

Jeana - They certainly demonstrate some screwy priorities.

Dec 29, 2009 09:08 AM
Leslie Helm
Tennessee Recreational Properties - Jamestown, TN
Real Estate For Trail Riders

Hi, John. Didn't someone say, "Numbers don't lie?!" This sure tells the tale!

Dec 29, 2009 11:13 AM
John Mulkey
TheHousingGuru.com - Waleska, GA
Housing Guru

Leslie - And an interesting tale it is, too. Hope your new year exceeds your expectations!

Dec 29, 2009 12:18 PM
Terry Chenier
Homelife Glenayre Realty - Mission, BC

John,

The States needs to follow the Canadian model. We have had the big 5 banks around forever and they are very well regulated. It's just good business.

Dec 29, 2009 04:08 PM
John Mulkey
TheHousingGuru.com - Waleska, GA
Housing Guru

Terry - The big problem is that we allow the banks to do much more than banking, and that can lead to disaster in times such as these.

Dec 30, 2009 12:33 AM
Kevin Robinson
Twin Falls, ID
Fractional Developer

John- These numbers do tell a sad tale. Maybe time for banks to get back to banking.

Dec 30, 2009 01:14 AM
Kevin Robinson
Twin Falls, ID
Fractional Developer

Featured in Tea Party! Nice work John.

Dec 30, 2009 01:14 AM
John Mulkey
TheHousingGuru.com - Waleska, GA
Housing Guru

Kevin - Banks just doing banking would certainly be a novel idea. Thanks for the feature!

Dec 30, 2009 03:06 AM
Jon Budish
Resident Realty - Fort Collins, CO

That's eye opening information. Too bad the propaganda media won't report the truth!

Dec 30, 2009 06:00 AM
John Mulkey
TheHousingGuru.com - Waleska, GA
Housing Guru

Jon - If they did it would go against what they've been reporting.

Dec 30, 2009 07:22 AM
Rob Arnold
Sand Dollar Realty Group, Inc. - Altamonte Springs, FL
Metro Orlando Full Service - Investor Friendly & F

At least NAR was able to lobby to keep banks out of the real estate business.  Those are scary numbers.  Kind of walking on thin ice.

Dec 30, 2009 07:45 AM
John Mulkey
TheHousingGuru.com - Waleska, GA
Housing Guru

 Rob - And we'll be "skating" for some time to come.

Dec 30, 2009 11:25 AM
Will Nesbitt
Nesbitt Realty at Condo Alexandria - Alexandria, VA
Nesbitt Realty is a family-run brokerage.

Thanks for pouring vinegar in my Cheerios. I appreciate even if it doesn't taste very good. ;^)

Dec 30, 2009 11:52 PM
Raylene Estabrook
Signature Homes Real Estate Group - Yarmouth, ME

Numbers do not lie do they. Why are so many ignoring the numbers and the facts. Thanks for sharing.

Dec 31, 2009 12:52 AM
John Mulkey
TheHousingGuru.com - Waleska, GA
Housing Guru


Will - We probably need to know even if the news isn't what we want.

Raylene - The politicians ignore the real numbers because they speak poorly of them; many in the media ignore them because they don't support their assumptions and agenda; and lots of the "folks" ignore them because they can't face bad news.

Dec 31, 2009 01:07 AM
Bonnie Vaughan
Scranton, PA
CNE SFR - Buyers/Sellers - Lackawanna & Surroundin

John,  Looks like the FDIC is sorely underfunded to handle an emergency.

Time to sew zip up pouches in the mattress.

Jan 01, 2010 06:39 AM
John Mulkey
TheHousingGuru.com - Waleska, GA
Housing Guru

Bonnie - That's no problem; Treasury can just print them all they need.

Jan 01, 2010 06:56 AM