cnf
Ruby
Posts: 20,921 Likes: 100,979
|
Post by cnf on May 29, 2021 12:39:01 GMT -6
Not even in history classes? Or stories from your parents about buying houses back then when they look at present day mortgage rates? Then again I worked in the finance industry so a fair amount of attention was spent on historical economic cycles. MIL likes to tell us about the first house they bought. The seller held their mortgage for them instead of a bank and she kindly only charged them 12% interest instead of the going rate of like 18% and what a great deal they got. We just refinanced and have an interest of like 2.85% or something bonkers. My parents have similar stories of interest rates on houses from when they were younger.
|
|
fatpony
Amethyst
Posts: 5,579 Likes: 30,810
|
Post by fatpony on May 29, 2021 12:40:38 GMT -6
I had no idea this was happening - though it doesnt' look like its actually going to?
|
|
jaygee
Diamond
Posts: 28,284 Likes: 219,840
|
Post by jaygee on May 29, 2021 16:19:30 GMT -6
TIL what Decoration Day actually was and how it became Memorial Day. I knew it was the precursor of Memorial Day, but didn't realize the literal tie in to decorating graves of fallen soldiers. And all because I was watching weened Today show. linkI believe there is a little more to this story. Here is something I found a couple years ago on the history. KNOW YOUR HISTORY: Memorial Day was started by formerly enslaved Black Americans on May, 1, 1865 in Charleston, SC to honor 257 dead Union Soldiers who had been buried in a mass grave in a Confederate prison camp. Freed Black Americans dug up the bodies and worked for 2 weeks to give them a proper burial as gratitude for fighting for their freedom. The bodies were placed in individual graves, a 100-yd. fence was built around them, and an archway was erected over the entrance bearing the words "Martyrs of the Race Course." Some 10,000 Black people then staged a procession of mourning, led by thousands of schoolchildren carrying roses and singing the Union anthem “John Brown’s Body.” Hundreds of Black women followed with baskets of flowers, wreaths and crosses. Black men, including Union infantrymen, also marched. “The war was over, and Memorial Day had been founded by Black Americans in a ritual of remembrance and consecration,” Yale historian Dr. David W. Blight wrote. It took three more years for the holiday to be officially proclaimed by General John A. Logan. The African American origins of the holiday were later suppressed, Dr. Blight found, by white Southerners who reclaimed power after the end of Reconstruction & interpreted Memorial Day as a holiday of reconciliation, marking sacrifices — by white Americans — on both sides. Black Americans were largely marginalized in this narrative. "African Americans have fought in every war that the United States has ever been involved in. It is important that more of us know the role Black folks played in the struggle to commemorate & preserve our legacy to keep sacred the sacrifices to end slavery & protect the North.” (Sources: David W. Blight, Time, PBS & NYTimes)
|
|
|
Post by greykitty on May 29, 2021 16:45:12 GMT -6
jaygee , thanks for the additional background. I had just seen a quick story on the children's Today show, and when I googled the link I posted was one of the first found. Good to get further information on its inception.
|
|
|
Post by Uncaripswife on May 29, 2021 16:55:19 GMT -6
Not even in history classes? Or stories from your parents about buying houses back then when they look at present day mortgage rates? Then again I worked in the finance industry so a fair amount of attention was spent on historical economic cycles. I don’t remember the 70s, as I was negative years old. Of course I am familiar with the influences of the the high interest rates. I do think it’s critically important to point out, that though actual interest rates are still very low, individuals are still being impacted by inflation but not governmental inflation. Those crazy interest rates were really only for 3 years, and that effectively inverted the yield curve, which led to a tighter monetary policy, which led to the recession in the 80s. Most of the key factors in the 70s inflation story exist in today’s economy, but we don’t have to worry about decoupling the dollar from the gold standard. Lending is still extremely loose, so yes, buying a house is cheap. BUT heres the crux of the issue, for me at least, there is a huge huge group that has been so impacted by rising cost of living and stagnated wages that they can’t even begin to think about buying a home, or hope to pay off staggering student loan debt. Student loans are, on average, at a 6% fixed rate. Prime is at 5, short term bonds are maybe at 2, and savings and money markets are at .5. These are untenable numbers, something will have to give and instead of being able to buy something cheaply, being able to make money on money may help bring a huge swath of people out of debt. It should help force wages up as well I love when you talk economics
|
|
dc2london
Admin
Press Secretary
Posts: 61,647 Likes: 419,514
|
Post by dc2london on May 29, 2021 19:41:53 GMT -6
Not even in history classes? Or stories from your parents about buying houses back then when they look at present day mortgage rates? Then again I worked in the finance industry so a fair amount of attention was spent on historical economic cycles. So, this is actually a thing that has really bothered me for decades: I was basically only taught """""""history""""" up to WWII. Every year in elementary school it was Revolution, Boston tea party, continental congress. Every year in 6-10 it was Reconstruction, Great Depression, WWI. Maybe WWII. It was terribly white-narrative and often inaccurate. I sought out history and sociology in college but with distribution credits was only able to take a small handful of actual history classes and, even at one of those scary communist colleges (my Alma mater is a major target of GOP ire) it was still really, really imbalanced. Basically, anything I know about history or geography, I have sought out on my own, outside of the formal education environment.
|
|
dc2london
Admin
Press Secretary
Posts: 61,647 Likes: 419,514
|
Post by dc2london on May 29, 2021 19:43:41 GMT -6
But yes, I am vaguely aware of the effects a red hot economy can have when my mother cites double digit mortgage rates
|
|
dc2london
Admin
Press Secretary
Posts: 61,647 Likes: 419,514
|
Post by dc2london on May 29, 2021 19:44:54 GMT -6
Anyway, I'm not trying to be argumentative with you GK, I'm not mad at you, I'm mad at my "excellent public schools" education
|
|
willow
Ruby
Posts: 19,616 Likes: 125,179
|
Post by willow on May 29, 2021 20:43:44 GMT -6
I don’t think we covered much other than the Vietnam war in the 60s and very little do I remember anything about American history from the 70s and 80s from school.
|
|
|
Post by oreobitsy on May 29, 2021 20:53:50 GMT -6
Not even in history classes? Or stories from your parents about buying houses back then when they look at present day mortgage rates? Then again I worked in the finance industry so a fair amount of attention was spent on historical economic cycles. So, this is actually a thing that has really bothered me for decades: I was basically only taught """""""history""""" up to WWII. Every year in elementary school it was Revolution, Boston tea party, continental congress. Every year in 6-10 it was Reconstruction, Great Depression, WWI. Maybe WWII. It was terribly white-narrative and often inaccurate. I sought out history and sociology in college but with distribution credits was only able to take a small handful of actual history classes and, even at one of those scary communist colleges (my Alma mater is a major target of GOP ire) it was still really, really imbalanced. Basically, anything I know about history or geography, I have sought out on my own, outside of the formal education environment. This was definitely my experience too. I recognized a lack of awareness for more current history (1970s) and tried to find good courses to fit in between my required courses.
|
|
athn64
Ruby
Posts: 17,412 Likes: 76,727
|
Post by athn64 on May 29, 2021 21:01:58 GMT -6
Not even in history classes? Or stories from your parents about buying houses back then when they look at present day mortgage rates? Then again I worked in the finance industry so a fair amount of attention was spent on historical economic cycles. So, this is actually a thing that has really bothered me for decades: I was basically only taught """""""history""""" up to WWII. Every year in elementary school it was Revolution, Boston tea party, continental congress. Every year in 6-10 it was Reconstruction, Great Depression, WWI. Maybe WWII. It was terribly white-narrative and often inaccurate. I sought out history and sociology in college but with distribution credits was only able to take a small handful of actual history classes and, even at one of those scary communist colleges (my Alma mater is a major target of GOP ire) it was still really, really imbalanced. Basically, anything I know about history or geography, I have sought out on my own, outside of the formal education environment. I took a class called World Since 1945 when I was a senior in HS. I was super excited to cover some more recent history. And then my teacher went through a midlife crisis and we didn't get as much covered. We did have a great mock-debate where we discussed Israel and Palestine. I was on Palestine's side. It was actually a really helpful lesson.
|
|
Peekaru
Sapphire
Posts: 2,518 Likes: 10,480
|
Post by Peekaru on May 30, 2021 6:50:56 GMT -6
I’m trying to convince work that we need to start a podcast where we discuss economic and financial history. There is so much information that once you hear it in context makes understanding finance easier.
So far I’ve just convinced people that I’m a huge nerd, which shouldn’t surprise anyone.
|
|
dc2london
Admin
Press Secretary
Posts: 61,647 Likes: 419,514
|
Post by dc2london on May 30, 2021 6:56:58 GMT -6
I’m trying to convince work that we need to start a podcast where we discuss economic and financial history. There is so much information that once you hear it in context makes understanding finance easier. So far I’ve just convinced people that I’m a huge nerd, which shouldn’t surprise anyone. Would subscribe
|
|
dc2london
Admin
Press Secretary
Posts: 61,647 Likes: 419,514
|
Post by dc2london on May 30, 2021 6:57:10 GMT -6
I want off this Rollercoaster
|
|
|
Post by cakewench on May 30, 2021 7:09:26 GMT -6
I’m trying to convince work that we need to start a podcast where we discuss economic and financial history. There is so much information that once you hear it in context makes understanding finance easier. So far I’ve just convinced people that I’m a huge nerd, which shouldn’t surprise anyone. Would subscribe Same.
|
|
dc2london
Admin
Press Secretary
Posts: 61,647 Likes: 419,514
|
Post by dc2london on May 30, 2021 7:56:45 GMT -6
|
|
dc2london
Admin
Press Secretary
Posts: 61,647 Likes: 419,514
|
Post by dc2london on May 30, 2021 8:15:24 GMT -6
blurnette989 there's an article in the NYT about Britons going to Portugal and acting like arseholes lmao
|
|
|
Post by enchanted on May 30, 2021 10:54:21 GMT -6
I want off this Rollercoaster They know that state is getting more and more purple and are scared to death.
|
|
origami
Amethyst
Posts: 6,433 Likes: 46,569
|
Post by origami on May 30, 2021 11:22:00 GMT -6
I got my BA in history mostly studying global geopolitics ww2 thru the break up of Yugoslavia and let me tell you, it was a hard course of study to even craft because it is so uncommon to examine. I took some really esoteric courses.
|
|
dc2london
Admin
Press Secretary
Posts: 61,647 Likes: 419,514
|
Post by dc2london on May 30, 2021 11:35:37 GMT -6
|
|
|
Post by enchanted on May 30, 2021 11:38:05 GMT -6
origami Any reading recs? I read a lot of WWII history and some of WWI and the interwar period, but I would love to learn more about the postwar period.
|
|
origami
Amethyst
Posts: 6,433 Likes: 46,569
|
Post by origami on May 30, 2021 11:38:14 GMT -6
|
|
origami
Amethyst
Posts: 6,433 Likes: 46,569
|
Post by origami on May 30, 2021 11:39:23 GMT -6
origami Any reading recs? I read a lot of WWII history and some of WWI and the interwar period, but I would love to learn more about the postwar period. Oh gosh, probably. Its been 15 years since I graduated but let me see if I can pull up some old syllabi.
|
|
|
Post by enchanted on May 30, 2021 11:41:57 GMT -6
origami Any reading recs? I read a lot of WWII history and some of WWI and the interwar period, but I would love to learn more about the postwar period. Oh gosh, probably. Its been 15 years since I graduated but let me see if I can pull up some old syllabi. Please don't put yourself out if it isn't easy to find/dig up. ETA: That^^^ sounds off somehow, but I truly mean it.
|
|
origami
Amethyst
Posts: 6,433 Likes: 46,569
|
Post by origami on May 30, 2021 11:46:13 GMT -6
Oh gosh, probably. Its been 15 years since I graduated but let me see if I can pull up some old syllabi. Don't put yourself out if it isn't easy to find/dig up. Two off the top of my head are Balkan Ghosts and Eastward to Tartary both my Robert Kaplan. I wrote my thesis on the Balkan wars and genocide of yugoslav Muslims as the second holocaust. And those two books plus some really dry and also really horrifying text books were my main source material. I also had a great book on the Russian mafia during the perestroika years that ill have to find.
|
|
origami
Amethyst
Posts: 6,433 Likes: 46,569
|
Post by origami on May 30, 2021 11:49:10 GMT -6
For interwar years there are some great books about the Harlem Renaissance that are both historical and just beautiful art, Voices of the Harlem Renaissance and Harlem Renaissance a Brief History.
|
|
|
Post by enchanted on May 30, 2021 11:52:15 GMT -6
Thanks, origami! I think I have read a book by Kaplan before and if I'm remembering correctly, I like his way of writing, so I'll start with those.
|
|
origami
Amethyst
Posts: 6,433 Likes: 46,569
|
Post by origami on May 30, 2021 11:52:47 GMT -6
And of course, A People's History of the United States by Howard zinn is a must read for everyone.
|
|
origami
Amethyst
Posts: 6,433 Likes: 46,569
|
Post by origami on May 30, 2021 11:54:28 GMT -6
Thanks, origami! I think I have read a book by Kaplan before and if I'm remembering correctly, I like his way of writing, so I'll start with those. Start with Balkan Ghosts. But be warned, it's haunting (no pun intended). Its astonishing how little we know/were taught about the Balkan Wars given that we all were alive during them, but wow. WOW.
|
|
|
Post by enchanted on May 30, 2021 11:56:17 GMT -6
I re-read Zinn last year, I think. Maybe the year before? Recently, anyway. Yes, a must read for everyone.
|
|