The stimulus is a lifeline to the big banks and investors in debt instruments (including mortgages). The free money will simply be used to pay off debt by most. Increased loan limits won’t change toughened lending standards being instituted by the banks. $1000 is far too little.

Reality is that there is too much debt versus earned income in the US and many other western countries. There aren’t any painless ways out of this fix (certainly not monetary ones), and the pain to correct it must be shared by all: investors must accept some capital losses and significantly lower real rates of return going forward, corporations must accept lower profit margins by boosting wages and salaries (i.e. increase earned income for workers), and individuals must realize that low taxes are a thing of the past.
http://suddendebt.blogspot.com/2008/02/dutch-boy-finger-and-dam-inc.html

It means that President Bush & Co. are fools to even waste their time attempting this nonsense, and don’t correctly grasp the problem. Waaay too many houses are priced for the upper 25% of incomes in Detroit. We can’t all be in the top 25%. The price collapse in RE and similar assets is sticky but just getting started. It started sooner in Michigan than most areas. Note in your OC price stats that the truly wealthy areas prices held up while the poser rich areas experienced big declines.

It means you shoulld have placed your assets in investments where they can’t be diminished by teh misunderstandings & mismanagement of Pres Bush. and the debt default tsunami. Like euro-demonited bonds (Pres Cheney did this), foreign real estate (Bush’s advisors aren’t as dumb as he looks), TIPS (both Bush and Dick), commodities (gold / wheat / soybeans / oil anyone?), emerging market stocks. Even the currency right accross the border would’ve held its purchasing power.

NAR: Now is a great time to rent. Im waiting like a vulture. But this will take years to play out like every previous real estate cycle did.