主题：占豪-中美国际肉搏-系列已经被转入 优品文摘 -- dolong
家园 华盛顿邮报：21世纪是中国的世纪？ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/24/AR2010022405168.html
Facing high unemployment and a difficult economy, most Americans think the United States will have a smaller role in the world economy in the coming years, and many believe that while the 20th century may have been the "American Century," the 21st century will belong to China.Asked whether this century would be more of an "American Century" or more of a "Chinese Century," Americans divide evenly in terms of the economy (41 percent say Chinese, 40 percent American) and tilt toward the Chinese in terms of world affairs (43 percent say Chinese, 38 percent American). A slim majority say the United States will play a diminished role in the world's economy this century, and nearly half see the country's position shrinking in world affairs more generally.家园 美国1130万套房子 成负资产 1130万的美国家庭的房产价值 低于 银行贷款，成为负资产。1130万的房子差不多是1/4的有贷款的房子。其中大概400万套房子的房价低于贷款 25%以上。下面是英文原文。
11.3 million homeowners underwater on mortgage
By Rex Nutting, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- More than 11.3 million homeowners -- nearly one-fourth of all Americans with a mortgage -- owe more on their loan than their home is now worth, according to a report released Tuesday by FirstAmerican CoreLogic.
More than 10% of people with mortgages owe 25% more than their home is worth.
The number of underwater mortgages increased by about 620,000 from the third quarter, the firm said. Another 2.3 million mortgages had less than 5% equity in their home, which could be wiped out if home prices fall further.
In the fourth quarter, national home prices fell 1.1% compared with the third quarter, Standard & Poor's reported in a separate report on Tuesday. See full story on Case-Shiller home price index.
Once the mortgage is underwater, owners cannot easily sell their home or refinance their loan.
Underwater mortgages are concentrated in few states: California, Florida, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan and Georgia. In Nevada, 70% of mortgages were underwater. In California, more than a third of mortgages were underwater.
"The rise in negative equity is closely tied to increases in pre-foreclosure activity," CoreLogic said. Once a homeowner owes 25% more than the house is worth, foreclosure rates rise sharply.
Negative equity exceeded 25% in six states and topped 20% in six others.
Rex Nutting is Washington bureau chief of MarketWatch.
家园 负资产就是粘牢 就意味着从经济的角度卖房已经不合算了，因为卖房所得不够还银行的，自己还要从口袋了掏钱给银行。
如果房主能换得起贷款，不靠房子融资，那么这房子就从房地产市场上消失了。
家园 文章后面美国人的回复挺有意思的。 对政客很反感的一条：
THE HEGELIAN PRINCIPLE: which the power seekers have been using with amazing success for a lot longer than I can remember to create support for their power grabs. It's a simple principle. It has only three steps:* Step one: CREATE A "PROBLEM": Create it or take one that does exist and build it up out of all proportion to its real importance; (failing credit) (underwater mortgage) (no jobs) (US Deficit )
* Step Two: PUBLICIZE THE "PROBLEM": Make sure a story about this problem appears in the news media each and every day, in newspapers, news magazines, radio, and television. Hit it again and again in a "steady drumbeat" that soon has people who don't pay real attention to politics (which is the majority of them) clamoring for a "solution" to the problem; (on going on FOX, CNN, CBS, ABC)
* Step Three: OFFER A "SOLUTION": A solution that takes away one or more of our rights and further undermines the constitutional protections we all are supposed to enjoy. One that involves higher taxes (to pay for this "solution," of course), and one we would not have allowed them to do without this previous conditioning of the public. (NAFTA) yeah! we are saved.
某人朋友的悲惨：
My own best friend is one of these "underwater" homeowners. Last March 2009, he refinanced his house to pay off his credit cards. He had trouble convincing the appraiser to get the appraisal high enough for the money he needed. Now, his house is worth less.Unfortunately, he is also more than $30,000 in debt on his credit cards again. Just last week, he sunk another $1000 on his credit cards in a Forex trading scheme which has already lost 1/3 of his trading account, all while he's thinking of getting a credit counseling service. He's a friend and genuinely nice guy, but a fool when it comes to money. This is one reason why his (now ex-) wife divorced him. He'll probably end up losing his home. He should because, as they say, a fool and his money are soon parted!
Meanwhile, on a macro scale, mortgage resets are to begin in earnest again starting next month. A friend in CA told me his neighbor, who bought a house in 2007, just got his new mortgage reset. He's been paying $970 on his mortgage for 3 years. Next month, his mortgage payment jumps to $2700, nearly a three-fold increase!
At the same time, the bank bailouts allowed the banks to sell many of those bad mortgages to the Fed at 100% of the original principal value. Remember when they eliminated the "mark-to-market" accounting standards? They are backed by the taxpayers. Now that they are selling those same mortgages as pennies on the dollar, guess who is buying them up? The SAME banks that sold them at 100%! The taxpayers are being fleeced both going and coming! This is criminal and a national outrage!
Apparently, we've learned nothing from this whole debacle. It is therefore inevitable that it will get worse.
家园 求翻译 实在看的有点不清不楚。
来点简短的中文翻译更好。