On Mon, 06 Oct 2008 17:29:21 -0500, Morris Dovey
wrote:

Frank Boettcher wrote:

The root cause in this instance is
those politicians who set the system up and created the environment.

Actually, I think it would be one individual who is usually though of as
being other than a politician - the then Chairman of the Federal Reserve
Board, Alan Greenspan, who redirected some 70 trillion dollars in world
wide investment funds away from Treasury Bonds.

And that's why financial institutions across the country relaxed their
lending standards to include those that had always been considered a
very high risk to default? I guess I'm consfused as to the cause and
effect.

I'll say it again, when a property is selling at three times its
replacement construction cost even considering the acquisition and
development of the land the dwelling sits on and there is no long term
projected shortage, you know something is not quite right.

Absolutely correct! And when 'something is not quite right', we'd better
give it immediate, close scrutiny. Failing to do /that/ was the mistake
we all need to learn to not make again.