subprime – The R.oB. Opinion

Subprime Thinking

Did Liberals Cause the Sub-Prime Crisis? | The American Prospect:

“It’s telling that, amid all the recent recriminations, even lenders have not fingered CRA. That’s because CRA didn’t bring about the reckless lending at the heart of the crisis. Just as sub-prime lending was exploding, CRA was losing force and relevance. And the worst offenders, the independent mortgage companies, were never subject to CRA — or any federal regulator. Law didn’t make them lend. The profit motive did.”

(Via The American Prospect.)

Obama Casts Wide Blame for Financial Crisis and Proposes Homeowner Aid – New York Times

Obama Casts Wide Blame for Financial Crisis and Proposes Homeowner Aid – New York Times:

“‘Instead of establishing a 21st-century regulatory framework, we simply dismantled the old one,’ he said, ‘aided by a legal but corrupt bargain in which campaign money all too often shaped policy and watered down oversight.’”

(Via The NY Times.)

I’m always for keeping things balanced. One thing he can’t say without losing his bid is that a 21 century framework has to be structured so that debtors shoulder some responsibility. While I’m sure many were hoodwinked and bamboozled, many others simply got greedy and gorged on cheap debt. They have to be taken to the shed as well. Let’s hope Barack leads in an effort to setup such a system.