Berniek is right: Much of the blame here falls upon the shoulders of the politicians (led by then-President Clinton), who forced banks to begin some rather foolish lending practices. Alan Greenspan certainly did his share to push this concept of "everyone can borrow" during his time as Fed chairman. Between creative financing, no money down offers, and other such options, the government has given people plenty of rope with which to hang themselves. We Americans haven't proven ourselves to be particularly strong in the moderation and self-discipline categories over the last 30-40 years. Also, remember the climate that existed in the 90s, when I bought my first house: Spurred on by the soaring housing prices, people were convinced that buying "as much house as you can afford" was a good move. Housing was considered an investment that couldn't fail. Yes, the experts began preaching about "the housing bubble" long before it hit, but the masses couldn't grasp how this sure-thing could ever fall. And there's always been a (faulty) basic belief that "If I couldn't afford it, the bank wouldn't lend it to me." I fully agree with those who say that Real Estate agents will push buyers to their upper limits and beyond, and banks will lend what they can -- it's all about profits for them. Yet, the home owner DOES also bear the brunt of personal responsibility. After all, who cares most about whether I can afford my mortgage -- and still buy groceries and other things I need? Clearly, it's ME! I reap the rewards or punishments of my decisions, so I should do the math and know whether I can comfortably afford a house (or anything else) before I buy it. However, we've sort of left that thinking behind in today's buy-now-pay-later society. We're constantly told that "we deserve" this or that thing. That if we're going to finance it, we deserve to have exactly what we want. That "everyone" has debt. We've got to get past that.

At age close to 80, living on less than my pensions, my assets are about 80% in stocks ... and I bought some more, a couple of weeks ago. I wasn't watching on Mon., but if I had would likely have bought something solid. Go to "Yahoo", click on "Finance", at top left there's a box labelled, "Get quotes", enter "BRK-B", then click on the box. You'll get a repoort of the open, high, low and close of the smaller Berkshire-Hathaway stock for the latest day, with current and average volume, and there's a chart of the price progression during the latest day on the right. Under the chart box, click on "6m" or "1 y" to find chart showing closing prices, daily or 3 days, for the recent 6 months or 1 year. If you'd like to see the price action during those days, above the chart there's a choice of "Bar" (which click on) or "Line" (or another for candlestick). Or try "JNJ" or "BAC" (Bank America). Or try "TD.TO" (Canadian bank, TD Canada Trust) or "ABX.TO" (Barrick Gold) or "ENB.TO" (Enbridge) or "TRP.TO" pipelines, "ECA.TO" (EnCana -natural gas), "NXY.TO" (Nexen - petroleum), "POT" (potash, a major fertilizer), all but the first are major resource providers, plus giving you some assets based in non-U.S. dollars. But - if the U.S. economy gets a cold, the Canadian one usually gets pneumonia. However, those resources are sought in many parts of the world. If you'd like to see a list of open, high, low and close, plus volume, and dividend rates (for some) click on "Historical prices" near top left. What's better than putting your money into the bank? Buying the bank! Let others' money work for you. Good wishes for wise use of your resources. ole joyful

2 things cause the price to go up: 1 - Inflation (how long ago, and were wood products also cheaper back then?) 2 - DEMAND! Like I said, it IS renewable, but it grows very slowly, so only so much can be harvested each year. Therefore, if people buy a whole lot of it the price must necessarily increase until an equilibrium between price and demand is reached (at $5 a bag it will sell out and the harvesters cannot produce anymore, at $50 no one will buy it; at $15 ($10 in NY) the price is right and demand meets the supply). It is a commodity - just like corn or soybeans - the prices rise and fall based on demand and supply (affected by the environment or political actions). The increase in price is good for the environment (my main argument in my first two long posts), because it forces consumers to opt for more RAPIDLY renewable soil amendments. My argument above (and why I support regulated, responsible harvesting of peat moss) is that the "politically correct" "peat moss is non-renewable" argument can have a detrimental effect on the environment because it may cause DEMAND to FALL until the PRICE DROPS to meet lower demand, which in turn actually will INCREASE DEMAND at the lower price (if peat moss becomes substantially cheaper than rapidly renewable sources). It is what I call the Walmart Effect - prices fall so low that consumption increases above necessary levels. For example, if quality nurseries stop carrying peat moss for political reasons, then big box stores will buy it up even cheaper and even more people (the masses who shop at box stores and do not care about renewability) will demand it and even more will be sold overall. Normally, without such unnatural interference in the Free Market, the price will find equilibrium. That is where it is now ($10-$15 a bale). Peat moss harvesters have invested too much capital to just stop harvesting when prices fall, so to make up for any shortfall caused by lower prices they will harvest even more (perhaps illegally) to make up the difference. This is why a lot of crops in the USA are destroyed - to keep prices high (this is the government's fault for paying farmers when they lose money). Right now demand meets (the sustainably harvested) supply, and at that level the cost per bale is $10-$15. It sounds like you were using a ton of the stuff in the past - that is actually very bad for your soil and plants; using wood products and compost is much healthier. Peat moss DOES have a legitimate use, just not as the MAIN ingredient of any soil mix.

When my Maggie is staring at a spot, I pay attention. Because one time, it was an actual mouse! The only time she was staring so intently. I do think there are ghosts, but can't figure out why? I totally think energy can exist beyond our bodies, and that's what they are. Why stick around though? Why does no one see them at the beach? Or some place enjoyable? Always sad and dreary. If I was I ghost, I'd pick Tahiti or something like that.