Open Thread
My new podcast, the fifty-year mortgage, and the arrival of spider season
I’m thinking about restarting a weekly open thread for subscribers. This will be a place where you can talk about anything, suggest questions for my next podcast episode, and tell me what’s on your mind. Today’s open thread will be open to everyone, but in the future it will be limited to paid subscribers—so sign up now.
1: I’ve launched a new podcast on BlazeTV with my friend Jonathan “Lomez” Keeperman. Twice a week, we’ll be taking you through the headlines and dissecting the unseen forces that are shaping America’s culture and politics. I’m also experimenting with formatting transcripts in the most readable manner possible, so let me know if I’m on track or how I can improve for you.
2: The Trump administration is floating the idea of a 50-year mortgage. I’m deeply skeptical. The concept behind the 15- or even 30-year mortgage is that you eventually own the home you live in. The 50-year mortgage abandons this pretense altogether and completes the transition to the home as a financialized speculative asset. Moreover, by extending the payments over 50 years, new homeowners will be paying almost pure interest for more than a decade.
3: I’m also interested in sharing photographs from my daily life and encouraging readers to submit photographs of theirs, especially related to nature, agriculture, and the outdoors. This month, the fields around my house are filled with spiders, which has been a lot of fun for my kids. Would you be interested in doing a monthly reader photo contest?
I like the photo idea, especially photos of nature.
50 year mortgages? Yes, Trump suggests a number of things. But the way he works, he suggests things and then suggests other things to get people out of their entrenched mindset. People think he’s a lunatic, needs to be impeached, whatever. At a time of his choosing, he then drops the real deal. Any doubt, re-read The Art of the Deal.