by Mathew Katz

It looks like foreclosure rates are spiking in areas that were relatively unscathed before, according to a realty data firm called RealtyTrac. Large amounts of foreclosures are popping up Idaho, Oregon, Utah, and Illinois — places that didn't have the same level of subprime lending as states like California. This time around, it's not just folks who took out bad loans: the culprit now is unemployment and a prolonged recession making it more difficult for people to make mortgage payments.

An update on Guaranty Financial: Reuters reports that a consortium that includes financial services executive Gerald Ford and several private equity firms has put in a bid for the the struggling bank. Reuters' sources also say that there have been a number of other bids. If a deal goes through, we may not be facing another big bank failure after all.

 

And add another voice to the chorus of people saying that we're out of a recession: billionaire Warren Buffet has an op-ed in this morning's New York Times declaring that the US is on a slow path to recovery. But he warns Congress to take measures to ensure that once the recovery ends, huge stimulus spending and dangerous levels of debt don't lead to massive inflation:

Our immediate problem is to get our country back on its feet and flourishing — "whatever it takes" still makes sense. Once recovery is gained, however, Congress must end the rise in the debt-to-G.D.P. ratio and keep our growth in obligations in line with our growth in resources. Unchecked carbon emissions will likely cause icebergs to melt. Unchecked greenback emissions will certainly cause the purchasing power of currency to melt. The dollar's destiny lies with Congress