"We can clear the foreclosed homes from the market within a year, and construction will take off immediately," asserted the self-assured Khavari, one of five independent and minor-party candidates running against wealthy Republican Rick Scott and Democrat Alex Sink, a former president of Bank of America's Florida operations. "Homeowners will save hundreds of billions of dollars per year in interest, and that money will stay in Florida's economy."
"This program will not result in another bubble," Khavari assured his supporters. The 2% mortgages offered by the state bank will keep home prices stable for the long term, at levels that are fair to both buyers and builders, he continued. "We need a sustainable housing market, with full employment and housing prices that our children and grandchildren will be able to afford. We can make Florida recession-proof forever."
The 67-year-old Khavari, who holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Bremen in Germany, first seized on the idea of a state-owned bank in the spring of 2008 while writing Towards a Zero-Cost Economy -- his ninth book. His mortgage proposal is just one part of his plan to create 1,000,000 private sector jobs in Florida.
The longest of long-shots in Florida's gubernatorial sweepstakes, Khavari began airing the first radio ads of his nearly 17-month campaign earlier this week.
ã ‚¬ ‚¬
ã ‚¬ ‚¬
ã ‚¬ ‚¬
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).