Interesting Twist

I saw this post at Calculated Risk and it raised an interesting point I had not seen raised elsewhere or thought about myself; proper and efficient economic activity in this country and elsewhere requires people to be able to move to where the jobs are. In this way, jobs find the best people with the best ideas and the best people with the best ideas find the jobs. But when you are underwater on your mortgage and have no option available in terms of selling your house, you need to look for a job located within commuting distance. Okay, you have options in terms of renting out your home, storing your stuff, renting an apartment, etc., but you realistically have no easy options if you need to move long distance. One option may be jingle mail, which may be a reason for why it has become more prevalent, but most folks do not consider that an option. And so, rather than looking for jobs in distant locations, folks look locally. Of course when you lose your job and home, you are free to move anywhere you want. But that is not a good option either.

http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2010/05/unemployment-geographic-mismatch.html

And another tidbit from Calculated Risk is a nice quote from the CEO of Deutsche Bank basically saying Greece is probably toast.

http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2010/05/deutsche-bank-ceo-expresses-doubts.html

Okay, perhaps he only expressed doubts about their recovery, but I agree. The austerity measures being applied there might feel like a walk in the park for certain third world countries, but in a country of people used to living beyond their means, it is too much pain - especially when the citizenry understand that their pain is to save some pain for European banks.

Disclosures: None.