Saturday, December 11, 2010

Toxic Homes

Have you ever heard of the Beveridge Curve? Me neither. But it has nothing to do with drinks.

I was just reading the Modeled Behavior blog and there's an interesting post about friction in the job market being caused by "underwater" mortgages.

Basically, the Beveridge curve has job vacancy rate on the y-axis and unemployment rate on the x-axis.



When unemployment is high, job vacancies should be low. But that hasn't been true in recent years! Why?

Apparently, people end up being stuck in their underwater homes and can't move to places where their skills are needed. 

This American Life had a great episode about toxic assets that were bought on purpose by reporters of Planet Money. They interview people with underwater mortgages and discover elaborate schemes of those who made bank (sort of) from the subprime mortgage crisis.

Sigh. Housing is stressing me out. Still looking for a place to live in SF. Looking through Craigslist postings is always entertaining.

There was a post that said, "Home is shared by 2 guys and 2 girls. We like to cook dinner together, sometimes at 4:20 PM." I thought, "What? 4:20 PM is so early for dinner! I'll never get to bond with my housemates because I get out of work so much later!" And then it hit me...like the strong smell of pot when I take the bus home sometimes.