US Economic Crisis Options: Dabble, dither, dump, default, destroy or be daring

US Economic Crisis by Dr. David Goldenberg: Strategies to Deal with the Economy (before late is too late.)

[Dr. Goldenberg is the author of Creating Condo & Homeowner Association Documents and The Art of War 3: Canons of Commerce.]

Here’s a mutually exclusive and exhaustive list of the broad families of strategies to deal with the current U.S. economic crisis. Which would you prefer? Tell your Congressmen.

I. Dabble and dither: This is our current strategy. Both political parties persist in offering variations of this inferior choice. Why inferior? Because the specific proposals either address only part of the problem or are economically unsound or ineffective. Each political party takes turns proposing treatment(s) which the other adamantly opposes. Relying primarily on an austerity program, a special case of fiscal policy, is one example. A dabbling and dithering strategy enables politicians to avoid doing anything they might later regret personally while allowing them to continue to hope that the problem eventually will evaporate without changing the status quo.

II. Devalue: Previously known as inflation or printing money wherein worthless dollars are used to pay off our debts. This special case of monetary policy simply would make things much worse. (Monetary policy is the exclusive province of the Federal Reserve Bank. But the Fed recently admitted that it has all but exhausted the power of monetary policy except for devaluation. Presumably the Fed hopes that some other policy set [fiscal, human, …] or combination will do the job. Finding that set is up to some other part(s) of the government. Viewed positively, this is an opportunity to earn lots of curses in Mandarin.)

III. Dump on other countries: Boost our economy by exporting more. Exports are such a tiny part of our economy that even tripling exports wouldn’t help much. Besides, the potential target countries are too weak economically to buy so vast a quantity of exports.

IV. Default: renege on the prior commitment to repay the debt and interest on it. Defaulting not only would cause a long and deep global recession but also would ruin the U.S. dollar’s reputation as having the world’s safest currency.

V. Destroy: World War II brought the world out of the Great Depression. But a replay is unaffordable today in both blood and treasure.

VI. Daring: Several generations of ignorant, desperate and apathetic voters allowed short-sighted, self-serving politicians to unintentionally create this mess. A consensus of experts’ recommendations is more likely to get us out of this mess than any proposals by the politicians who caused it or let it happen.

© 2011 David I. Goldenberg, Ph.D. Boynton Beach, FL USA

 

Can Condo Boards Charge Fees to Owners Who Rent Their Units if Bylaws are Silent?

We receive frequent questions from condo owners and homeowners association members. Personal conflicts with condo boards and/or neighbors are dealt with through our private consultation service. We respond to generic questions when time allows, as per the condo rental fee and condo zoning issues raised below.

QUESTION: Our Florida condo association board is trying to charge access fees ($100 per event up to $1000) to those owners who rent unless their rental company has an agreement with the association to give them compensation. This is not in our bylaws at all and this was never a requirement previously. Can they do this without amending the bylaws?

ANSWER:

The board probably has that authority without amending the documents. A board normally has the power to charge owners/residents/renters fees to cover actually incurred or reasonably foreseeable costs. A board can charge a reasonable fee for processing/reviewing leases, perhaps as much as $100 but I doubt that a court would regard $1,000 as reasonable.

Moreover, a tenant usually steps into the shoes of the owner and enjoys all the rights and privileges thereof including having guests. IF a tenant were not treated accordingly by the board, a court might find it has discriminated against the tenant.

If, for instance, there was some special event which owners could attend/participate in for no charge and could bring guests, then a tenant should be able to do the same. However, if the viewing space, parking, etc. at the event were limited, the board could restrict attendance in various ways, including levying a fee to cover the costs of increasing access or parking provided it did so equitably, for example, first-come first-served reservations.

Again, the answer depends on what the law and the documents allow. And that may be implicit rather than explicit. De facto, a board can do almost anything it can get away with unless actively opposed by a sufficiently large group of owners.

Dr. Joyce Starr & Dr. David Goldenberg – Authors, Homeowners Defense Kit.

A related condo rental zoning question answered by Dr. Goldenberg.

The City of Miami Beach is going to pass a law to prohibit condo rentals less than six months and one day.  Our condo docs allow us to rent for 1 month, but not less.  Can the city override our condo documents and make us rent for more than six months? This may make some of us who rent our units for a few months in the summer lose our homestead? Would that be an illegal impairment of contract? Can the city force us to rent in a way that makes us lose our homestead?  I don’t understand how the city can take our rights to rent our own units.

Answer: This is a legal question and I’m not an attorney. However, I suspect that such a law could be: 1. successfully challenged by established owners acting renting for short periods if their governing allow such, 2. enforced against new owners in new condominiums, and 3. perhaps enforced against new owners in established condominiums. Essentially the city is changing its zoning rules. Of course, there are vast differences between proposing such a law, enacting it, trying to enforce it, and having it stand up in courts of appeal.

Dr. David Goldenberg

Federal Reserve Declares Recession is Dead: Twelve Indicators that Economy is in Trouble

Economic Recovery Revisited – Economists & Fed Declare Recession is Dead. Real folks don’t believe it. Twelve top indicators that the economy is bad from Rights Radio resident forensic economist, Dr. David Goldenberg.

YOU KNOW THE ECONOMY IS BAD WHEN…(in reverse order)

12. CEO’s are now playing miniature golf.

11. I received a pre-declined credit card in the mail.

10. I went to buy a toaster oven and they gave me a bank.

9. Hotwheels and Matchbox car companies are now trading higher than GM in the stock market.

8. Obama met with small businesses — GE, Pfizer, Chrysler, Citigroup and GM — to discuss the Stimulus Package.

7. McDonald’s is selling the 1/4 ouncer.

6. People in Beverly Hills fired their nannies and are learning their children’s names.

5. The most highly-paid job is now jury duty.

4. People in Africa are donating money to Americans. Mothers in Ethiopia are telling their kids, “finish your plate; do you know how many kids are starving in America?”

3. Motel Six won’t leave the lights on.

2. The Mafia is laying off judges.

And my most favorite indicator of all.

1. If the bank returns your check marked as “insufficient funds,” you have to call them and ask if they meant you or them.

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More from Rights Radio on Economic Recovery:

Economic Revival Strategies: How & When

StarrPublications.com/RightsRadio.com features leading economist Dr. David I. Goldenberg on “The Coming Economic Revival: How & When.” Listen to my interview with Dr. Goldenberg LIVE on November 19, 2008 at 5:00 PM EST. Dr. Goldenberg authored Creating Condo & Home Owner Documents, one of the three books in our Homeowners Association Rights …

Economic Revival: Economic Revival Wisdom Proven Wrong – Forcasting our Future

Quotes that remind us what economic revival “crash and prosperity” experts didn’t know then and cannot know now re economic recovery. Courtesy of Rights Radio forensic economist and author, Dr. David Goldenberg. “We will not have any more crashes in our time.” – John Maynard Keynes in 1927  …

Economic Stimulus Support for Other Nations – China & India

Economic Stimulus Plan Q & A – Courtesy of Dr. Dave! “This year, taxpayers will receive an Economic Stimulus Payment.” This is a very exciting new program that we will explain using the Q and A format: Q. What is an Economic Stimulus Payment? A. It is money that the federal government will send …

To your economic recovery rights!

Dr. Joyce Starr

Economic Revival Strategies: How & When

StarrPublications.com/RightsRadio.com features leading economist Dr. David I. Goldenberg on “The Coming Economic Revival: How & When.” Listen to my interview with Dr. Goldenberg LIVE on November 19, 2008 at 5:00 PM EST.

Dr. Goldenberg authored Creating Condo & Home Owner Documents, one of the three books in our Homeowners Association Rights Defense Kit, along with our special report, “How to Recall Your Codo or HOA Board in 10 Easy Steps.”

He’s also co-chairman of our Rights Radio Think Tank Brain”Trust”.

Among his many works, he wrote The Art of War 3: The Canons of Commerce,” an insight-filled interpretation of Sun Tzu’s Art of War from a business perspective. The Art of War 3 goes straight for the jugular and leaves very little room for a wandering mind,” declared a key reviewer.

Now Dave is turning his keen mind to Strategies for Economic Revival. His view:

“This has been the largest destruction of human wealth in history, but we hear little about that fact. On the other hand, there will be an upturn – possibly a huge one. This is not the end of the world, and we haven’t fallen off the edge of the universe. But it could be quite a while… If the government of the United States acts brilliantly and persistently in leading the world, the US economy can sustain a very fast growth rate – recouping all the money that’s been wasted by 2025. But if it does not do what is necessary, the United States will be in a near depression for seven to ten years and then slowly recover.”

WHEN: Wednesday, November 19, 2008

WHERE: LIVE on THIS PAGE! The Live play button is visible during the show. If you missed the show, you can hear the streaming replay immediately below.

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Dr. Goldenberg presented his special report on “Strategies for Economic Revival” to several key economic organizations at the end of November, 2008. A copy of his presentation will be available on STARRPublications.com. Please join our mailing list on the right side of this page (or below) for publication announcements.

*****

Amazon Review for Dr. Goldenberg’s Cannons of Commerce
By Giri Giridhar, Co-Chairman, qMGN, Inc. (Ridgewood, NJ, USA) -

Business like war requires strategy, intelligence, etc., as exemplified brilliantly by David Goldenberg in The Art of War 3: The Cannons of Commerce. This book has a foreword, 13 chapters, an afterword, three appendices, a detailed bibliography and an index. Besides its timeliness, this well-written book offers great depth and experience-based knowledge. The book brings well thought out and insightful attention to bear on many important topics; among them are leadership, weaknesses and strengths, and contingencies. Decision-makers at all levels of business and government would benefit greatly by reading this book carefully, rereading it regularly and seeing that their subordinates do so as well.