On 4/25/2011 2:18 AM, harry wrote:
On Apr 24, 5:26 pm, wrote:
On 4/24/2011 10:36 AM, Han wrote:





wrote in news:de2db6ae-
:

As an example, in the recent housing bubble,
everyone got the idea that housing was a great investment, that
it could only go up. The government helped, by subsidizing real
estate with huge tax breaks, requiring lenders to make loans
in low income areas regardless of credit worthiness and keeping
interest rates very low.

In response to that, demand for housing increased, causing prices
to rise in response. Exactly how markets behave following the
most basic rules of economics.

Exactly, on the surface. Dig a little deeper and greed, stupidity and
abdication of responsibility played much bigger roles than "markets". But
I dont think we'll ever agree amongst all of us who bears the most
responsibility. Suffice it to say that the housing bubble wasn't uniform
over the US, and certainly not over all developed countries. Therefore,
either the markets were differentially manipulated, or some countries had
"better" regulation than others.

Don't forget the clueless or greedy individuals who signed up for loans
they knew damn well they could not afford. I blame them as much as I
blame the hucksters that invited them into the tent. I could have gotten
paper for twice as much house as I bought, but saw no point in it. And
even with the housing crash, I think I could still sell this place for
as much as I paid for it. No profit, especially once you subtract out
repairs, interest, taxes, etc, but I am far from upside down. 'Blue
collar' houses didn't crash near as bad as McMansions.

--
aem sends...- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

They were all conned. The biggest con of all is the "American Dream".
The fact that there were so many conned points to the efficiency of
the lies and propaganda Americans are subjected to.

You need to ask yourselves, did the banks know the facts that you set
out above?

Answer, yes, obviously.

So tell me, what you suppose their motive was?

Greed? Stupidity? Incompetance? Or a desire to destroy America?
Or is it a Russion/Chinese plot?

Hard to people unless they let you. Like I said, I blame the people who
took out the loans, as much as the crooks who wrote them. Greedy or
stupid or poorly educated in basic finance (by schools or parents),
doesn't make much difference. Nobody held a gun to their heads. The ones
I truly feel sorry for are the ones who tried to buy something they
could afford, but had to buy high or lose a job, since the area they
lived in was riding the bubble up. Market collapsed, and often their job
did too, and now they are under water.

--
aem sends...