American Dream For Rent?
CBS
Transcript
these days there a new definition of home s home l luk max dream is r aart los i don't know renting is perf amer dream now during the first quarter of this year the percentage of households headed by home owners had sharpest decline in two decades while the number of people cho show it to and then back up andry red that west rentals.com and online los angeles rental search service owner mark verge says his market is exploding enormous of coming through here that we haven seen before people all ages that used to be home buyers the increasingly unstable housing market and continued foreclosures have turned even those with the means to buy towards the rental market rent is no longer a word and for many people that's a very attractive and very rational option but for those forced into this compete rental market by foreclosure the going is tough landlords are now more likely to reject potential renters with bad credit scores can't just go in and say i want this apartment it doesn't work that you have to go tell why you're making you're making a commitment with owner maxion rent el resp resp vol housing maret sandra h cbs news los angeles
How Goldman Sachs Survived
CBS
Transcript
The Firm of Goldman Sachs is a high-profile survivor of the recent Carnage on Wall Street thanks in large part to A5 billion do investment by Warren Buffett an inside look at the firm's trademark corporate culture is tonight's weekend journal on a street obsessed with money and power Goldman Sachs with more than $150 billion in assets is the PowerHouse and employes that leave the legendary Investment Bank go on to powerful positions Goldman Sachs and alumni include Robert Rubin former treasury secretary and now director of City Group Joshua Bolton current white house chief of staff New Jersey governor John Corzine and of course the duo making news right now treasury secretary Henry pson and 35-year-old Neil kashari appointed by Paulson to head the $700 billion rescue plan Charles Ellis a longtime strategic consultant to Goldman Sachs wrote a book about the company that came out this week There's a very specific spefic culture and Ethos to Goldman Sachs having been a part of that for 30 years how do you describe that intense absolute priority total commitment it's a ferociously intensive way for people of great talent to be deeply committed to doing something that they believe is going to be spectacular in the long run spectacular expectations for spectacular salaries some of which employees are asked to give back in the form of personal philanthropy what is the commitment to Public Service they are trained to it when you first join that firm you will be taken aside and told you know here at Goldman Sachs we all make a commitment your commitment is yours whatever you want but each of us makes commitment to some philanthropic purposes the company which barely survived the Wall Street crash of 1929 converted itself into a Traditional Bank holding company last month bringing an end to the era of giant investment Banks but with Paul wson and kashari now taking the Helm of the $700 billion plan the question still arises whether Wall Street is best overseen by two of its own this would be like making the chairman of Exxon Mobile Secretary of the Department of energy Ellis disagrees you need did all that you need a real Insider and so getting people who have been inside Wall Street is I think smart Play kari's meteoric Rise six years out of business school has also ra some concerns was I surprised to find out how young he is yes was I surprised to find how few years of experience he's had yes do I think that he was chosen because he's really good at the work yeah I really do for his part Neil kashari says he's hired outside firms to draw up guidelines for selecting asset managers and for drafting guidelines on stock purchases he told an international banking group this week that the program will be quote strong decisive and effective
Will Low Oil Prices Last?
CBS
Transcript
While you slept, the price of gas at the pump fell a nickel overnight. The national average is now $2.99 a gallon. Even cheaper in some places, 218 at one station in Aurora, Missouri. Makes me wish I had more cars so I could fill them all up. Consumers have a right to feel giddy. That's awesome. Fewer dollars spent at the pump could mean more spending at the mall. The amount of money that consumers will save from lower oil prices is roughly the same size as the stimulus package that we got in 2008. That's a significant boost to consumer purchasing power. But, and it's a big butt, that's only if the price of oil remains this low, around $70 a barrel. My feelings is, you know, I just can't see it staying this way. OPEC agrees. Oil ministers are meeting in Vienna next Friday to cut production in hopes of forcing oil prices higher, but it's a tight rope act. If OPEC uh cuts production uh and they do damage to the world economy, well, they're not going to sell as much oil and prices are going to fall anyway. The economy these days is already an ugly picture. People are losing their homes at record rates. Manufacturing is slowing down everywhere. Jobs in the United States are vanishing faster than magicians rabbits. And the jobless rate is all but certain to rise. If you see somebody or have heard of somebody or somebody you know has lost their job, your first reaction isn't to go out and spend like a drunken sailor. Not when many economists believe we're in a recession. We're going to stay in the recession, I think, through the first half of next year. But lower oil prices mean it'll be a little milder recession than it might have been otherwise. Just three months ago, gas averaged more than $4 a gallon. Hard to reckon that today's prices would be cold comfort. Tony Gus, CBS News, New York.