The Washington Post, Tuesday, July 22:

Foreclosures can ravage local communities and local governments. When houses stand unoccupied week after week, weeds grow, windows get vandalized and paint peels. The deterioration of even one house can hurt neighbors' property values, which in turn makes their houses harder to sell or refinance, raising the risk that they, too, will default on their mortgages. Meanwhile, officials spend more on maintenance -- while taking in less in property taxes.

Paul Chesser

The audacity of vanity

From the Providence Journal, Wednesday, July 16:

Last week, crude-oil prices tumbled by about $10 a barrel. Then Iran tested missiles that could at some point be used to deliver nuclear weapons to Israel, Europe or the United States, and the prices shot right back up, sending tremors through the world economy.

"It is clear growth has been slow and the labor market is weak. So conditions are tough on average families."

44It's not just Iran. A Brazilian union of oil workers went on strike, threatening to cut crude supplies from that country, and Nigerian rebels pledged new attacks on oil platforms. But Iran is what is really spooking the markets. And for good reason.

66Part of creative policy-making, as in moviemaking, is obscuring the moving parts. But it's clear even now that over the weekend the government safety net was significantly expanded, the lines between the public and private sector were further blurred, and the odds were raised that such government rescues will be needed in the future.