[quote=Arraya]
So, everybody needs to abandon the myth that the “government” due to misguided socialistic policies created the housing bubble. The government played a supportive role to the private industry in maximizing short-term profits as well as socializing gambling loses. Just like every other country that had a bubble.[/quote]

A couple notes here Arraya. And I’m not sure how much sarcasm is included in your post, but for the purpose of thise response, I’ll assume (and I suspect) none. Which makes your comment spot on.

First, there’s a big difference between saying the GSE’s weren’t responsible for the bubble and that the government was blameless. The GSE’s weren’t blameless, they were just a small part. But the government certainly wasn’t blameless. (I’d dispute the use of the socialistic tag, mostly because when government actions acts solely in support of private industry, that’s fascist policy, not socialistic.)

I find it hard to place primary blame for criminal actions on anyone other than the criminals. And the criminal enterprise was the financial industry. The loan originators and syndicators. But the government agencies (including congress) in charge of overseeing and regulating these industries were probably a close 2nd. The SEC, the Fed, Comptroller of the currency, Treasury, and more. They all f’d up beyond belief. Conspiracy to do so? I’m not real big on conspiracies. I’d go with Occam’s razor here, the much more simple explanation is gross negligence. In a different context, it would be criminal complacency.