venky08
01-07 03:12 PM
there is a discussion about this elsewhere in the forum. please go thru the previous threads.
in those discussion threads, it was mentioned that after I-140 is revoked, the USCIS will send an RFE to you asking for evidence of future employment consistent with the labor certificate description. it will give you a few weeks time to respond back to the RFE.
Then you are to send a letter from your new employer that they are promising you a job in future where you would essentially do the same job functions as described in the labor...
if you inform the USCIS using AC 21 provision to change the job upfront, you may not get this RFE.
hi Munna,
thanks for your reply. you said no effect on your GC. but once I-140 with drawn then how can USCIS process 485? can you please eloborate.
in those discussion threads, it was mentioned that after I-140 is revoked, the USCIS will send an RFE to you asking for evidence of future employment consistent with the labor certificate description. it will give you a few weeks time to respond back to the RFE.
Then you are to send a letter from your new employer that they are promising you a job in future where you would essentially do the same job functions as described in the labor...
if you inform the USCIS using AC 21 provision to change the job upfront, you may not get this RFE.
hi Munna,
thanks for your reply. you said no effect on your GC. but once I-140 with drawn then how can USCIS process 485? can you please eloborate.
wallpaper 2005 Subaru Legacy 2 5 Gt Race
amitjoey
08-06 02:01 PM
Honorable Senator Specter
Did you know that during the immigration debates, the most shrill voices against �immigration reform� (legitimizing illegal immigrants) was by legal immigrants who are living here in the US, and waiting for green cards, while their spouses are not allowed to work (half a million at the most recent count). Others who were against the reforms were immigrants who came here legally after waiting years, and are now green card holders. Democrats and liberal Republican senators have shown no empathy for legal immigrants and US citizens in their zeal for legalizing illegal immigrants through "immigration reform". I was not surprised to see just a single statement in your article, at the far end (probably as an afterthought) about green cards for legal skilled immigrants. Over 350,000 legal immigrants (99%) of who have nothing to do with crime are stuck in FBI name checks, and are unable to naturalize. Another 500,000 highly skilled legal immigrants (Doctors, Engineers etc) most of whom studied in the US, are stuck in retrogression (from countries such as India, China, Philippines etc). These legal immigrants are not even on your radar, even as Senators such as yourself, Ms. Diane Feinstein and others loose no opportunity to try to provide amnesty for the 12 million people who crossed over the border with scant regard for US law. You want to reward these people ahead of any �reform� for legal skilled workers. So much for President Bush�s statement about �putting these undocumented workers at the back of the line�. I don't think the American citizens will ever buy this lopsided reform. Genuine Border control is being held up as bait, for legalizing 12 million people. Please attend to border control and solve legacy problems of legal skilled immigrants already in the US, before doing anything on legalizing �undocumented workers�. Why is this so hard for our honorable congressmen and women to understand?
Lastly neither USCIS nor the FBI is able to timely service the legal immigrants already here, how do you propose to process the illegal immigrants without causing huge delays for those who played by the rules?
On the money, perfectly described. good choice of words.
Did you know that during the immigration debates, the most shrill voices against �immigration reform� (legitimizing illegal immigrants) was by legal immigrants who are living here in the US, and waiting for green cards, while their spouses are not allowed to work (half a million at the most recent count). Others who were against the reforms were immigrants who came here legally after waiting years, and are now green card holders. Democrats and liberal Republican senators have shown no empathy for legal immigrants and US citizens in their zeal for legalizing illegal immigrants through "immigration reform". I was not surprised to see just a single statement in your article, at the far end (probably as an afterthought) about green cards for legal skilled immigrants. Over 350,000 legal immigrants (99%) of who have nothing to do with crime are stuck in FBI name checks, and are unable to naturalize. Another 500,000 highly skilled legal immigrants (Doctors, Engineers etc) most of whom studied in the US, are stuck in retrogression (from countries such as India, China, Philippines etc). These legal immigrants are not even on your radar, even as Senators such as yourself, Ms. Diane Feinstein and others loose no opportunity to try to provide amnesty for the 12 million people who crossed over the border with scant regard for US law. You want to reward these people ahead of any �reform� for legal skilled workers. So much for President Bush�s statement about �putting these undocumented workers at the back of the line�. I don't think the American citizens will ever buy this lopsided reform. Genuine Border control is being held up as bait, for legalizing 12 million people. Please attend to border control and solve legacy problems of legal skilled immigrants already in the US, before doing anything on legalizing �undocumented workers�. Why is this so hard for our honorable congressmen and women to understand?
Lastly neither USCIS nor the FBI is able to timely service the legal immigrants already here, how do you propose to process the illegal immigrants without causing huge delays for those who played by the rules?
On the money, perfectly described. good choice of words.
dan19
09-11 04:14 PM
What to advertise??
....Employer says, he did not hear anything from them to start advertising.
....Employer says, he did not hear anything from them to start advertising.
2011 2005 Subaru Legacy Wagon
lecter
January 5th, 2005, 07:54 AM
dude, that's a cool one. Is that the original colour?
It's certainly stark. I think a little less filling would make it more effective yet again..
Cheers
Rob
It's certainly stark. I think a little less filling would make it more effective yet again..
Cheers
Rob
more...
stirfries
01-29 10:10 AM
My AP is approved on 27th, but I did not receive it so far. I already booked my tickets and have only one day left for my travel.
Would it be safe to travel now? Are there any risks involved in doing so?
Please advice.
Thank you
Hey nrakkati !!!
congrats on your AP approval. I was in the same boat as you are now, a while back...Your situation is very dicey...You can travel now provided someone can mail you the approved AP when they receive the AP at the specified address...The only risk is, if it gets lost in the MAIL, YOU ARE SCREWED !!! USCIS, as a matter of policy, will not reissue a lost AP and would require you to start the AP process from the scratch...
Ofcourse there are alternatives when you get SCREWED that way...:)
If you already made the trip assuming that you would get the AP on hand and if the AP is lost in mail, You can go to the US Embassy in the country that you are visiting,( not US Consulate) and show them the proof of the AP approval and request temporary pass to return back to US...More details on this can be found on researching this forum...
Thanks,
Would it be safe to travel now? Are there any risks involved in doing so?
Please advice.
Thank you
Hey nrakkati !!!
congrats on your AP approval. I was in the same boat as you are now, a while back...Your situation is very dicey...You can travel now provided someone can mail you the approved AP when they receive the AP at the specified address...The only risk is, if it gets lost in the MAIL, YOU ARE SCREWED !!! USCIS, as a matter of policy, will not reissue a lost AP and would require you to start the AP process from the scratch...
Ofcourse there are alternatives when you get SCREWED that way...:)
If you already made the trip assuming that you would get the AP on hand and if the AP is lost in mail, You can go to the US Embassy in the country that you are visiting,( not US Consulate) and show them the proof of the AP approval and request temporary pass to return back to US...More details on this can be found on researching this forum...
Thanks,
EkAurAaya
05-22 04:54 PM
at the rate my lawyer is going, i will be lucky if it gets filled before June 30th! :D so rest assured I'm filing after 10th!
more...
bsbawa10
11-24 03:16 PM
I just started using SBI global and I am happy with their services. One question though. I am sending money to my own account. I know we have to declare the accounts more than 10K. Is the interest earned on that money taxable in US ? Another question is , since we are here is that money taxable in India also ? If yes, how do we manage our indian taxes while living here(tax returns etc). Any help would be great.
2010 Subaru Legacy Wagon. 2005
pathiren
03-29 07:56 PM
Chanduv,
I am sorry, but as far as I have known IV, IV has never exclusively or inclusively worked on student OPT/H1, but it is a coincidence that increase in student OPT might be a fallout of some of IV's actions. I dont see any point of asking students to join IV solely on this basis (OPT or H1 increase). Though, having graduated as a student in US, I totally agree to the point of asking students to join stating that GC is the final step in achieving their American Dream, where IV can make considerable impact.
I think the administrators should particulary keep a close watch on such posts related to OPT/H1 issues. These posts might be incorrectly interpreted and lead to deviatons from IV's cores agenda issues as well as division of resources. Unless, IV administrators are seriously thinking of changing their ideology and are willing to walk this path.
Nevertheless, I will keep on supporting IV with all my possible efforts. Cheers and Go IV!
HP
I am sorry, but as far as I have known IV, IV has never exclusively or inclusively worked on student OPT/H1, but it is a coincidence that increase in student OPT might be a fallout of some of IV's actions. I dont see any point of asking students to join IV solely on this basis (OPT or H1 increase). Though, having graduated as a student in US, I totally agree to the point of asking students to join stating that GC is the final step in achieving their American Dream, where IV can make considerable impact.
I think the administrators should particulary keep a close watch on such posts related to OPT/H1 issues. These posts might be incorrectly interpreted and lead to deviatons from IV's cores agenda issues as well as division of resources. Unless, IV administrators are seriously thinking of changing their ideology and are willing to walk this path.
Nevertheless, I will keep on supporting IV with all my possible efforts. Cheers and Go IV!
HP
more...
harrydr
03-29 11:06 PM
What all documents are needed in this case to port the I-140 provided the job description stays the same and in the same category code.
We all know that no employer shares the approved I-140 copy as that is the company's property and my understanding is that a copy of approved I-140 is required in order to port the priority date??
We all know that no employer shares the approved I-140 copy as that is the company's property and my understanding is that a copy of approved I-140 is required in order to port the priority date??
hair 2005 SUBARU Legacy Wagon
gc_chahiye
10-05 04:12 PM
How big of a risk would it be to file on EB2? If they reject me for EB2, would it hurt my chances on applying again on EB3? How much time would I lose in case of a rejection?
getting rejected in EB2 does not impact your case for EB3 (they might look up that older file and see that it was rejected because of education qualification for EB2, but does qualify for EB3).
You will probably get an RFE at I-140 time. USCIS will either reject this case, in which case you will lose this complete GC process and need to restart from scratch (so you'll lose maybe 1 years worth of place in the queue). Or they might ask you to accept this in EB3, in which case you dont lose your LC and the PD that goes with it.
getting rejected in EB2 does not impact your case for EB3 (they might look up that older file and see that it was rejected because of education qualification for EB2, but does qualify for EB3).
You will probably get an RFE at I-140 time. USCIS will either reject this case, in which case you will lose this complete GC process and need to restart from scratch (so you'll lose maybe 1 years worth of place in the queue). Or they might ask you to accept this in EB3, in which case you dont lose your LC and the PD that goes with it.
more...
forgerator
05-02 07:11 PM
I entered last year on Sept 2nd when my stamp was going to expire on Sept 30th, but I had my I797 with me. The officer asked me whether I was aware that my stamp is going to expire at end of September, I said yes I am aware. He then asked me for my I797 which clearly showed my H1 is valid until 2010. After about half an hour he let me through.
hot 2005 Subaru Legacy Wagon
rdehar
11-27 01:40 PM
How does it work? It doesn't work anymore :D
Labor substitution is dead.
Beware of anyone scamming you in name of labor sub...
Labor substitution is dead.
Beware of anyone scamming you in name of labor sub...
more...
house 2005 subaru legacy wagon
jumanji4u
04-08 09:36 AM
Hmmm....strange good words does seems like working....its all started with good news, then it went to universities ...now to a communities...sometimes the old words seems very very true..how ever you try to make the dog's tail straight ..it doesn't work..
Great people....you knowledge and education has come to great use..hats off..
Great people....you knowledge and education has come to great use..hats off..
tattoo Subaru,
gcpain
03-28 01:30 PM
Let us form a group who are pushing to introduce Ammendment for Filling I485, AP &EAD when I140 approved/pending, eventhough Cut-off dates are not reached for EB category immigration. Please discuss here weather any work being done to introduce this ammendment with present Comprehencive Bill.
more...
pictures Car wallpapers Subaru Legacy
a_yaja
10-05 07:14 PM
Hi
Is there any webpage that has details on an EAD and what jobs a person can do, cannot do, whether new job it needs to tie in 50% to current job etc ..
I'm looking for the official page that has some detail on this.
Looked online did not find anything. A little surprised.
Let me know if any of you have any relevant links to this info.
Not looking for hearsay ... something official.
Thanks
V
EAD = Employment Authorization Document. The only restriction it has (for I-485 applicants atleast) is that you I-485 is still pending. If your I-485 is denied/ approved then EAD is no longer valid.
There is no restriction for what the EAD can be used for as long as it is legal work. Not sure why you think there is a restriction on the kind of work you can do with an EAD.
Is there any webpage that has details on an EAD and what jobs a person can do, cannot do, whether new job it needs to tie in 50% to current job etc ..
I'm looking for the official page that has some detail on this.
Looked online did not find anything. A little surprised.
Let me know if any of you have any relevant links to this info.
Not looking for hearsay ... something official.
Thanks
V
EAD = Employment Authorization Document. The only restriction it has (for I-485 applicants atleast) is that you I-485 is still pending. If your I-485 is denied/ approved then EAD is no longer valid.
There is no restriction for what the EAD can be used for as long as it is legal work. Not sure why you think there is a restriction on the kind of work you can do with an EAD.
dresses 2005 Subaru Legacy Wagon
Queen Josephine
April 5th, 2005, 02:10 PM
OK, following Gary's lead, I tried a facelift also. It was a slow day at work so I had lots of time to play with this. Adobe Photoshop Rescue.... :) A little sloppy in one spot that I can see, but hey, it wasn't for real!
more...
makeup 2005 Subaru Legacy Wagon
petersebastian
04-01 11:31 PM
you dont have to marry. just remain as illegal and they will GC sooner.
Hmm really? I thought that is not possible anymore. Can you give me the details or refer me to a website that has them? Thank you!
Hmm really? I thought that is not possible anymore. Can you give me the details or refer me to a website that has them? Thank you!
girlfriend 2005 SUBARU LEGACY WAGON
uma001
05-24 10:14 AM
you may get 100 points it does not matter, We are still going to have country caps ...
How can i get 100 points, i dont have TOEFEL score and no relatives in US.
How can i get 100 points, i dont have TOEFEL score and no relatives in US.
hairstyles 2005 Subaru Legacy 2 5 Gt Race
alkg
08-13 08:41 PM
see the paragraph in bold letters.................
Greenspan Sees Bottom
In Housing, Criticizes Bailout
August 14, 2008
WASHINGTON -- Alan Greenspan usually surrounds his opinions with caveats and convoluted clauses. But ask his view of the government's response to problems confronting mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and he offers one word: "Bad."
In a conversation this week, the former Federal Reserve chairman also said he expects that U.S. house prices, a key factor in the outlook for the economy and financial markets, will begin to stabilize in the first half of next year.
"Home prices in the U.S. are likely to start to stabilize or touch bottom sometime in the first half of 2009," he said in an interview. Tracing a jagged curve with his finger on a tabletop to underscore the difficulty in pinpointing the precise trough, he cautioned that even at a bottom, "prices could continue to drift lower through 2009 and beyond."
A long-time student of housing markets, Mr. Greenspan now works out of a well-windowed, oval-shaped office that is evidence of his fascination with the housing market. His desk, couch, coffee table and conference table are strewn with print-outs of spreadsheets and multicolored charts of housing starts, foreclosures and population trends siphoned from government and trade association sources.
An end to the decline in house prices, he explained, matters not only to American homeowners but is "a necessary condition for an end to the current global financial crisis" he said.
"Stable home prices will clarify the level of equity in homes, the ultimate collateral support for much of the financial world's mortgage-backed securities. We won't really know the market value of the asset side of the banking system's balance sheet -- and hence banks' capital -- until then."
At 82 years old, Mr. Greenspan remains sharp and his fascination with the workings of the economy undiminished. But his star no longer shines as brightly as it did when he retired from the Fed in January 2006.
Mr. Greenspan has been criticized for contributing to today's woes by keeping interest rates too low too long and by regulating too lightly. He has been aggressively defending his record -- in interviews, in op-ed pieces and in a new chapter in his recent book, included in the paperback version to be published next month. Mr. Greenspan attributes the rise in house prices to a historically unusual period in which world markets pushed interest rates down and even sophisticated investors misjudged the risks they were taking.
His views remain widely watched, however. Mr. Greenspan's housing forecast rests on two pillars of data. One is the supply of vacant, single-family homes for sale, both newly completed homes and existing homes owned by investors and lenders. He sees that "excess supply" -- roughly 800,000 units above normal -- diminishing soon. The other is a comparison of the current price of houses -- he prefers the quarterly S&P Case Shiller National Home Price Index because it includes both urban and rural areas -- with the government's estimate of what it costs to rent a single-family house. As other economists do, Mr. Greenspan essentially seeks to gauge when it is rational to own a house and when it is rational to sell the house, invest the money elsewhere and rent an identical house next door.
"It's the imbalance of supply and demand which causes prices to go down, but it's ultimately the valuation process of the use of the commodity...which tells you where the bottom is," Mr. Greenspan said, recalling his days trading copper a half century ago. "For example, the grain markets can have a huge excess of corn or wheat, but the price never goes to zero. It'll stabilize at some level of prices where people are willing to hold the excess inventory. We have little history, but the same thing is surely true in housing as well. We will get to the point where there will be willing holders of vacant single-family dwellings, and that will no longer act to depress the price level."
The collapse in home prices, of course, is a major threat to the stability of Fannie and Freddie. At the Fed, Mr. Greenspan warned for years that the two mortgage giants' business model threatened the nation's financial stability. He acknowledges that a government backstop for the shareholder-owned, government-sponsored enterprises, or GSEs, was unavoidable. Not only are they crucial to the ailing mortgage market now, but the Fed-financed takeover of investment bank Bear Stearns Cos. also made government backing of Fannie and Freddie debt "inevitable," he said. "There's no credible argument for bailing out Bear Stearns and not the GSEs."
His quarrel is with the approach the Bush administration sold to Congress. "They should have wiped out the shareholders, nationalized the institutions with legislation that they are to be reconstituted -- with necessary taxpayer support to make them financially viable -- as five or 10 individual privately held units," which the government would eventually auction off to private investors, he said.
Instead, Congress granted Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson temporary authority to use an unlimited amount of taxpayer money to lend to or invest in the companies. In response to the Greenspan critique, Mr. Paulson's spokeswoman, Michele Davis, said, "This legislation accomplished two important goals -- providing confidence in the immediate term as these institutions play a critical role in weathering the housing correction, and putting in place a new regulator with all the authorities necessary to address systemic risk posed by the GSEs."
But a similar critique has been raised by several other prominent observers. "If they are too big to fail, make them smaller," former Nixon Treasury Secretary George Shultz said. Some say the Paulson approach, even if the government never spends a nickel, entrenches current management and offers shareholders the upside if the government's reassurance allows the companies to weather the current storm. The Treasury hasn't said what conditions it would impose if it offers Fannie and Freddie taxpayer money.
Fear that financial markets would react poorly if the U.S. government nationalized the companies and assumed their approximately $5 trillion debt is unfounded, Mr. Greenspan said. "The law that stipulates that GSEs are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government is disbelieved. The market believes the government guarantee is there. Foreigners believe the guarantee is there. The only fiscal change is for someone to change the bookkeeping."
In the past, to be sure, Mr. Greenspan's crystal ball has been cloudy. He didn't foresee the sharp national decline in home prices. Recently released transcripts of Fed meetings do record him warning in November 2002: "It's hard to escape the conclusion that at some point our extraordinary housing boom...cannot continue indefinitely into the future."
Publicly, he was more reassuring. "While local economies may experience significant speculative price imbalances, a national severe price distortion seems most unlikely in the United States, given its size and diversity," he said in October 2004. Eight months later, he said if home prices did decline, that "likely would not have substantial macroeconomic implications." And in a speech in October 2006, nine months after leaving the Fed, he told an audience that, though housing prices were likely to be lower than the year before, "I think the worst of this may well be over." Housing prices, by his preferred gauge, have fallen nearly 19% since then. He says he was referring not to prices but to the downward drag on economic growth from weakening housing construction.
Mr. Greenspan urges the government to avoid tax or other policies that increase the construction of new homes because that would delay the much-desired day when home prices find a bottom.
He did offer one suggestion: "The most effective initiative, though politically difficult, would be a major expansion in quotas for skilled immigrants," he said. The only sustainable way to increase demand for vacant houses is to spur the formation of new households. Admitting more skilled immigrants, who tend to earn enough to buy homes, would accomplish that while paying other dividends to the U.S. economy.
He estimates the number of new households in the U.S. currently is increasing at an annual rate of about 800,000, of whom about one third are immigrants. "Perhaps 150,000 of those are loosely classified as skilled," he said. "A double or tripling of this number would markedly accelerate the absorption of unsold housing inventory for sale -- and hence help stabilize prices."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121865515167837815.html?mod=hpp_us_whats_news
Greenspan Sees Bottom
In Housing, Criticizes Bailout
August 14, 2008
WASHINGTON -- Alan Greenspan usually surrounds his opinions with caveats and convoluted clauses. But ask his view of the government's response to problems confronting mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and he offers one word: "Bad."
In a conversation this week, the former Federal Reserve chairman also said he expects that U.S. house prices, a key factor in the outlook for the economy and financial markets, will begin to stabilize in the first half of next year.
"Home prices in the U.S. are likely to start to stabilize or touch bottom sometime in the first half of 2009," he said in an interview. Tracing a jagged curve with his finger on a tabletop to underscore the difficulty in pinpointing the precise trough, he cautioned that even at a bottom, "prices could continue to drift lower through 2009 and beyond."
A long-time student of housing markets, Mr. Greenspan now works out of a well-windowed, oval-shaped office that is evidence of his fascination with the housing market. His desk, couch, coffee table and conference table are strewn with print-outs of spreadsheets and multicolored charts of housing starts, foreclosures and population trends siphoned from government and trade association sources.
An end to the decline in house prices, he explained, matters not only to American homeowners but is "a necessary condition for an end to the current global financial crisis" he said.
"Stable home prices will clarify the level of equity in homes, the ultimate collateral support for much of the financial world's mortgage-backed securities. We won't really know the market value of the asset side of the banking system's balance sheet -- and hence banks' capital -- until then."
At 82 years old, Mr. Greenspan remains sharp and his fascination with the workings of the economy undiminished. But his star no longer shines as brightly as it did when he retired from the Fed in January 2006.
Mr. Greenspan has been criticized for contributing to today's woes by keeping interest rates too low too long and by regulating too lightly. He has been aggressively defending his record -- in interviews, in op-ed pieces and in a new chapter in his recent book, included in the paperback version to be published next month. Mr. Greenspan attributes the rise in house prices to a historically unusual period in which world markets pushed interest rates down and even sophisticated investors misjudged the risks they were taking.
His views remain widely watched, however. Mr. Greenspan's housing forecast rests on two pillars of data. One is the supply of vacant, single-family homes for sale, both newly completed homes and existing homes owned by investors and lenders. He sees that "excess supply" -- roughly 800,000 units above normal -- diminishing soon. The other is a comparison of the current price of houses -- he prefers the quarterly S&P Case Shiller National Home Price Index because it includes both urban and rural areas -- with the government's estimate of what it costs to rent a single-family house. As other economists do, Mr. Greenspan essentially seeks to gauge when it is rational to own a house and when it is rational to sell the house, invest the money elsewhere and rent an identical house next door.
"It's the imbalance of supply and demand which causes prices to go down, but it's ultimately the valuation process of the use of the commodity...which tells you where the bottom is," Mr. Greenspan said, recalling his days trading copper a half century ago. "For example, the grain markets can have a huge excess of corn or wheat, but the price never goes to zero. It'll stabilize at some level of prices where people are willing to hold the excess inventory. We have little history, but the same thing is surely true in housing as well. We will get to the point where there will be willing holders of vacant single-family dwellings, and that will no longer act to depress the price level."
The collapse in home prices, of course, is a major threat to the stability of Fannie and Freddie. At the Fed, Mr. Greenspan warned for years that the two mortgage giants' business model threatened the nation's financial stability. He acknowledges that a government backstop for the shareholder-owned, government-sponsored enterprises, or GSEs, was unavoidable. Not only are they crucial to the ailing mortgage market now, but the Fed-financed takeover of investment bank Bear Stearns Cos. also made government backing of Fannie and Freddie debt "inevitable," he said. "There's no credible argument for bailing out Bear Stearns and not the GSEs."
His quarrel is with the approach the Bush administration sold to Congress. "They should have wiped out the shareholders, nationalized the institutions with legislation that they are to be reconstituted -- with necessary taxpayer support to make them financially viable -- as five or 10 individual privately held units," which the government would eventually auction off to private investors, he said.
Instead, Congress granted Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson temporary authority to use an unlimited amount of taxpayer money to lend to or invest in the companies. In response to the Greenspan critique, Mr. Paulson's spokeswoman, Michele Davis, said, "This legislation accomplished two important goals -- providing confidence in the immediate term as these institutions play a critical role in weathering the housing correction, and putting in place a new regulator with all the authorities necessary to address systemic risk posed by the GSEs."
But a similar critique has been raised by several other prominent observers. "If they are too big to fail, make them smaller," former Nixon Treasury Secretary George Shultz said. Some say the Paulson approach, even if the government never spends a nickel, entrenches current management and offers shareholders the upside if the government's reassurance allows the companies to weather the current storm. The Treasury hasn't said what conditions it would impose if it offers Fannie and Freddie taxpayer money.
Fear that financial markets would react poorly if the U.S. government nationalized the companies and assumed their approximately $5 trillion debt is unfounded, Mr. Greenspan said. "The law that stipulates that GSEs are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government is disbelieved. The market believes the government guarantee is there. Foreigners believe the guarantee is there. The only fiscal change is for someone to change the bookkeeping."
In the past, to be sure, Mr. Greenspan's crystal ball has been cloudy. He didn't foresee the sharp national decline in home prices. Recently released transcripts of Fed meetings do record him warning in November 2002: "It's hard to escape the conclusion that at some point our extraordinary housing boom...cannot continue indefinitely into the future."
Publicly, he was more reassuring. "While local economies may experience significant speculative price imbalances, a national severe price distortion seems most unlikely in the United States, given its size and diversity," he said in October 2004. Eight months later, he said if home prices did decline, that "likely would not have substantial macroeconomic implications." And in a speech in October 2006, nine months after leaving the Fed, he told an audience that, though housing prices were likely to be lower than the year before, "I think the worst of this may well be over." Housing prices, by his preferred gauge, have fallen nearly 19% since then. He says he was referring not to prices but to the downward drag on economic growth from weakening housing construction.
Mr. Greenspan urges the government to avoid tax or other policies that increase the construction of new homes because that would delay the much-desired day when home prices find a bottom.
He did offer one suggestion: "The most effective initiative, though politically difficult, would be a major expansion in quotas for skilled immigrants," he said. The only sustainable way to increase demand for vacant houses is to spur the formation of new households. Admitting more skilled immigrants, who tend to earn enough to buy homes, would accomplish that while paying other dividends to the U.S. economy.
He estimates the number of new households in the U.S. currently is increasing at an annual rate of about 800,000, of whom about one third are immigrants. "Perhaps 150,000 of those are loosely classified as skilled," he said. "A double or tripling of this number would markedly accelerate the absorption of unsold housing inventory for sale -- and hence help stabilize prices."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121865515167837815.html?mod=hpp_us_whats_news
Thiru
09-22 08:43 PM
I got email notification through e-mail my AP approval on 4th sep 2009.Not yet received AP document by mail.The processing center is TSC.Anybody in the same situation?
H1Girl
08-16 04:37 PM
I wonder in what way this post is relevant to immigration issue etc.
It's all once's personal probelm as far as I understand...
It's all once's personal probelm as far as I understand...
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