{"id":48342,"date":"2018-04-14T04:15:35","date_gmt":"2018-04-14T11:15:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=48342"},"modified":"2024-09-17T15:21:40","modified_gmt":"2024-09-17T22:21:40","slug":"black-coffee-14-april-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id48342-black-coffee-14-april-2018.html","title":{"rendered":"Black Coffee: Credit Stiffs, Corporate Zombies and the Walking Dead"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"black<\/a>It’s time to sit back, relax and enjoy a little joe …<\/em><\/p>\n

Welcome to another rousing edition of Black Coffee, your off-beat weekly round-up of what’s been going on in the world of money and personal finance.<\/p>\n

Let’s get right to it this week …<\/p>\n

“In the Carboniferous Epoch we were promised abundance for all,<\/em>
\nBy robbing selected Peter to pay for collective Paul;<\/em>
\nBut, though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy,<\/em>
\nAnd the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: ‘If you don’t work you die.'”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

— Rudyard Kipling (from The Gods of the Copybook Headings<\/em>)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Credits and Debits<\/strong><\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Did you see this? Los Angeles County asked homeowners to shelter homeless people in their backyard<\/a> sheds. Yep. Homeowners can get paid to house the homeless in small sheds in their backyards because voters agreed to pay $1.2 billion in taxes to help with homeless city housing in Los Angeles County back in 2016. Heh. And yet, Los Angeles County officials wonder why their homeless population keeps growing.<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> On a related note, a recent Pew study found that, as of 2014 the number of Americans between 18 and 34 who are living with parents<\/a> surpassed those in other living arrangements for the first time in more than 130 years. Not surprisingly, it also found that young adults in that group without a college degree are more likely to be living with parents, than to be married or cohabiting in their own homes. Imagine that.<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> I guess the increase in multi-generational homes probably shouldn’t be a surprise, given that a recent study by a prominent housing-market data-aggregator showed that the average worker can’t afford the median-priced home<\/a> in 70% of US counties. Obviously, this wouldn’t be a problem if America had more counties offering taxpayer-subsidized backyard sheds.<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Keep in mind that the current lack of housing affordability remains despite the fact that the US banking industry is once again giving loans to anybody who can fog a mirror<\/a>. Yes, even to this guy:<\/p>\n