Spent a few hours today researching an easement in land records (don't ask).
Most of the time the only people in the land records office are title examiners. It's a dry, dusty job, looking through old deed books, microfilm, and these days computerized records. It's a job for people who are good with details, and they tend to be sort of introverted. But I always like to interact with title examiners because they know what's really going on in the economy before anyone else does.
They were unusally loud today on two major topics.
Topic one was interest rates. They were complaining because interest rates are too high - even though the Fed keeps cutting rates, mortgage rates aren't coming down, and credit card rates aren't coming down. One fellow seemed to be a student of history - he was saying that the spread between the Fed funds rate and bank rates hadn't been this wide in a long time. I called out that I thought the last time the spread between the corporate bond rate and the Fed funds rate was this wide was 1929-1930. (Not positive but as far as I know it's true.) The historical fellow said, and of course it's obvious, if the banks don't start cutting rates, we'll have a repeat.
It's kind of ridiculous - we refinanced at the first of the year at 7% with no points, and it hasn't moved much since. You can get a lower rate, but with points.
The second part, interestingly to me if to no one else, is that the historical fellow started talking about the duty of the West to keep back the forces of Islam, and how we had been doing this for a long time, and started talking about the Battle of Tours.
I don't make stuff like this up.
Now there is a telethon on TV, actors and musicians trying to raise money for the United Way to adminster for the victims of September 11. The actors keep quoting people like Churchill, and the singers often sing about God. Not all - Neil Young sang John Lennon's "Imagine" and Tom Petty sang "I Won't Back Down."
This is the way we are. Flags, God, the Battle of Tours.
Here I stand. I can do nothing else.
Well I won't back down
No I won't back down
You can stand me up at the gates of hell
But I won't back down
One of the women said that already seven of her friends have been called up. |
