Shared Equity Project

Welcome to the Shared Equity Project. This section of y-intercept.com will provide a philosophical discussion of finance reform and will introduce a proposal for the home finance industry called "Shared Equity Financing."

The Philsophic

I emphasize the philosophical nature of this work because the economy is a product of the human mind. It is absurd to think that we can engage in the process of reforming our financial system without first considering the ideas that underlie the system.

Unfortunately, talking about the philosophical foundations of the economy went out of vogue during the great wars of the 20th century as it became clear that the ideologies of Hegel and Marx were vacuous rantings. As these were, and continue to be, the favored ideology of the intelligentsia, all attempts to discuss the ideas that are necessary to create a stable free market get dismissed as ideology.

Before beginning my musings on economics, I wish to emphasize that the great financial crisis of 2008 developed in an age when pragmaticism and political expediency ruled both major American political parties. Both George W. Bush and William Jefferson Clinton were avowed economic centrists who made moving toward the center the hallmark of their political strategies.

On the intellectual front, I wish to emphasize that that intellentsia that control the universities and press systematically bats down attempts to discuss the ideas behind the market.

I realize, as I write this work, that it will be ridiculed then summarily rejected as ideology. However, since I know that the the economy is a manifestation of the ideas we have about the economy, I find that there is no better approach to ending our economic malaise than a serious discussion of ideas.

The Pragmatic

Center to my philosophy is the belief that ideas matter.

The way we improve society is to discuss ideas, then derive from these ideas practical solutions to our problems from our ideas.

Keeping to this form, this philosophical essay will lead to a very specific financial reform that I believe will solve the crisis caused by the mortgage mess that led to the implosion of the world financial system.

The reform is to replace a portion of the mortgages in our financial system with a new financial tool called "Shared Equity Financing."

Shared Equity Fincancing replaces mortgage lending with percentage based liens against properties. These liens would be rolled up into financial securities traded on the market.

Before one can trade such securities, there must be a market. The economic collapse of 2008 exposed some serious problems with the NASDAQ, the DTCC and other closed boxed exchange systems.

Responding to fears that these closed box exchanges have been captured and corrupted, this project will include a second pragmatic solution to our woes which would involve creating a new exchange based on open source methodologies. I have taken to calling this exchange the Open Source Real Time eXchange (OSTRX).

Form of this Book

This book will have three sections. The first section will contrast the Marxist view of economics with the free market view. The second section will introduce the reform of "Shared Equity Financing." The third section will discuss the development of the OSTRX.

This work is part of a larger project called Rich Theory which provides an in depth historical analysis of Western history and the roots of the current malaise of the modern era.

I intend to develop this web site in book format. It my hope that upon completion of the work that I will either find a publisher or self publish the work.