Monday, March 16, 2009

Oregon Forecolsures

OPB's Ethan Lindsey gets picked up by NPR this morning talking about something I have been saying for a while: Foreclosures in Oregon are now more about unemployment than sub-prime loans and speculation. And with unemployment soaring in Oregon, the situation is going to get a lot worse before it gets better.

Nice job on the story Ethan, kudos.

[Note: This post comes a little late because I have been waiting for the latest Oregon jobs report to structure the post around - but it is not yet out]

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Thanks Patrick...I am always looking for that 'next step' story, and to me, right now, the next step is going to be when do people start moving elsewhere because it's so bad here. (This is especially true out here in Bend.)

Do you think that's a good story? Are people moving away? And, to where?

Or, can you (or anyone who reads your blog) think of a good 'next step' chapter in the state's economic story?

Ethan Lindsey
OPB News

Patrick Emerson said...

I really don't know at the moment what the migration stats look like, but I suspect that if Oregon lags other western states in economic recovery, that may well become a story.

Is this likely to happen? Well the US is currently being the most aggressive in fiscal policy, the rebound in global demand for US exports (which Oregon is relatively dependent on) is likely to lag the rebound in domestic demand, so perhaps.