Disqus - Latest Comments for mlblevins

Re: Bailout for AIG swells to more than $150B

Blevins Wist — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 14:19:47 -0000

I have to say I'd be a bit surprised if something goes through Congress to help automakers. It couldn't possibly be popular with voters, though now that elections are over that won't be as much of an issue. Still, the auto industry isn't as important to the average American as the credit and financial markets, so I can't imagine at least some resistance. With regards to AIG - Liddy says that "AIG is in fact on the road to recovery." I should hope so - your company just got a sweetheart deal paid for by the U.S. taxpayers.

Re: On Obama’s economic meeting today

Blevins Wist — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 10:04:53 -0000

It does seem a pretty good gathering. When you try to fix the economy, you have to hear from corporations. They are, after all, the individual pieces that make up the economy (or most of it). Of course, the government is a big part of it too, but as anyone who has been reading the news lately knows, Uncle Sam is going to have to be MUCH less a part of the economy (in terms of spending and borrowing, to be specific) if this thing is going to get turned around. The "bailout" increased the national debt 10% in 2 MONTHS. Don't think those mortgage rates are going to come down and spur a housing market recovery while the government borrows big...just can't happen. If you want the consumer/average American's input (the third tier of the economy), here it is: start chopping. Spend less, borrow less, tax less. Not sure that will happen, but if the federal government doesn't start borrowing less, we're all in trouble.

Re: Ze Frank knows about community

Blevins Wist — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 16:41:46 -0000

I still remember the first time I saw "The Show" - then had to promptly watch every show that I'd missed prior to my "discovery," then waited (sometimes impatiently) as the new shows came out. Then I advertised one of my websites (blog) via a golden "duckie." THAT's when I first understood Ze's uncanny ability to engender community participation. Must have had 50 people come to my blog that day, with comments like "a friend of Ze is a friend of mine."

Re: Destroying your brand with non-stop lists

Blevins Wist — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 16:24:12 -0000

It's kind of funny to see someone writing this. I used to be a writer and lists just seemed kind of lazy to me. Or, put another way, what people do when they can't actually write. However, since I started blogging some time ago (current project is a real estate blog for my company), I've of course come across many, many "list posts." I'm also a former search engine optimization (SEO) specialist, and anyone in that field and the crossover field of social media optimization will tell you that lists are great "link bait." All that said, I think I have something against these types of posts too. Could be that I tend to ramble in a semi-stream-of-consciousness mode from time to time (that's probably not good either), but I know how to read just fine. I don't need information condensed into bullet points. Not saying that these posts should never be published, but I agree that going overboard is just bad news.

Re: Housing: How Low Can It Go?

Blevins Wist — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 23:52:09 -0000

Amidst the hysteria, it's important to remember that some individual markets aren't really doing so bad at all. It's mentioned that in the very short term the number of sales is increasing dramatically while prices are falling. In some markets, including the Maryland real estate market, things aren't so bad at all. In Anne Arundel county, for instance, home sales in September 2008 were down over 14% from September, 2007. At the same time, the overall price decline was a mere 7.25%. Certainly not great, but an indication that some markets are seemingly immune.