The real question is – apart from our mutual disgust – is WHAT effect WILL this have on the economy? What if the housing bubble is followed by a collapse of credit card debt on Wall Street?
In the NPR interview Joe said a credit card problem wouldnt be nearly as bad as the housing collapse….but still…
I used to tease my “depression era” father about the way he never threw things away, and kind of had a money under the mattress approach to finance…the truth is, his entire generation was SHAPED by the Depression.
Maybe it will take a cataclysmic event like that to change the mindset of an entire generation….to wean them off the teat of easy credit, living beyond their means, etc?
I am not an economist, but if HELOCs are gone, and credit becomes harder to get – esp for defaulters – will many people be forced to live on the money they actually earn?
