Fwd: Patt Morrison Thurs, 6/19

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From: Machado, Aimee <AMachado@scpr.org>
Date: Wed, Jun 18, 2008 at 5:55 PM
Subject: Patt Morrison Thurs, 6/19
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PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Thursday, June 19, 2008

1-3 p.m.

 

1:00 – 1:20

OPEN

 

 

 

1:20 – 1:40

The White House Isn't Facing Foreclosure—Is It?

The American housing crisis presses on, fueled at first by subprime mortgage collapses and now by a domino effect of foreclosures that is quickly depressing home prices across the country and especially in Southern California.  There have been a variety of solutions to come out of Washington D.C., from an aggressive government guaranteed loan program to a plan making its way through the Senate that would allow homeowners to trade in risky mortgages for more affordable loans.  The Bush Administration has always favored free market solutions, encouraging lenders to be more flexible in renegotiating mortgage terms.  The Treasury Department's point man on the Administration's housing policy stops by the program to make his case for this free market approach.

 

Guests:

Phillip Swagel, Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury for Economic Policy

HE CALLS US:  Line #9 first, then 866#

 

• Swagel was previously chief of staff at the White House Council of Economic Advisers from '02 – '05.  Before that he served as an economist at the Federal Reserve Board.
• The Treasury Department just announced a set of voluntary guidelines for the nation's largest lenders that would help to facilitate renegotiations of mortgages for homeowners facing foreclosure.
• Under the guidelines, the lenders would acknowledge a borrower's request for help within five business days and approve or deny a request within 45 days of receiving the application.  Lenders will also update borrowers about the status of their application after 30 days.
• The voluntary guidelines are the result of months of discussions among lenders, loan servicers and government officials. They encourage lenders to have enough staff to respond to calls from homeowners and housing counselors. They also call for lenders to consider pausing the foreclosure process once a homeowner has contacted them.

 

 

 

 

1:40 – 2:00

Economic Reality is Bad, but the Perception is So Much Worse

Yes, we're in an economic slowdown.  The pressure on American consumers must feel immense:  not only are commodity prices up across the board, but wages have been stagnant and the property values of our homes have been dropping.  The perception is that the U.S. is within the throws of a recession, and any recent reading of consumer confidence reports says as much.  But the reality isn't quite so bad:  whether we're in a recession or not is debatable, and previous economic troughs of the early '80's, early '90's or even after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, were much worse than what we are in now.  So why does it feel like our financial world is collapsing around us?

 

Guests:

Richard Curtin, director of the Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers at the University's Institute for Social Research; research professor at U-M

CALL HIM @

 

• The consumer confidence survey has been conducted since 1946, and Professor Curtin has directed the survey since 1976.

 

POTENTIAL GUEST:

Eric J. Johnson, professor of behavioral economics at the Columbia Business School

 

 

 

[NPR NEWS]

 

 

2:00 – 2:30

Taking an Internet Sabbath

Blackberry's, email, cell phones--sometimes it seems like our entire lives are in the control of our electronic devices. A while back there was a blackout in Montreal, Canada and, so the anecdote goes, children didn't know how to play hide n' seek, or any other game, without a computer. That inspired computer developers Denis Bystrov and Ashutosh Rajekar to launch "Shutdown Day," a program that doesn't involve, well, computer programs. The idea was to inspire people to shut off, disconnect, meet their neighbors, and, heaven forbid, leave the house completely unwired. Could you go 24 hours without logging on?

 

Guests:

Denis Bystrov, computer developer and "Global Shutdown" organizer

Call him @

 

Scott Spanbauer, contributing editor for "PC World" who writes about disconnecting (among other things)

Call him @

 

• Make sure to keep personal and work emails separate
• Have a personal cell phone, so you can leave your Blackberry behind while on vacation or not working
• Electronic devices are just a symptom, not the cause, of people who can't shut off

 

 

PATT NOTE: This week Morning edition is doing a series on managing e-mail.

 

 

 

2:30 – 3:00

OPEN

 

 

 

 

 

--
Michael Higby