I don’t see anything to disagree with in your post, Allan.
I am perhaps a little less Obama-allergic, not because I see him as a savior, but because he seems slightly better than some of his fellow powerful politicians (E.g. Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, Chuck Schumer. And add a few Republicans with responsibility for financial oversight, if you think they have, or had, any power and were championing looser lending.) But the differences are not that great, for all the distracting sound and fury made over them.
I also see the problem more as the pursuit by a majority of our population of selfish short-term goals, using the tools of democratic politics, than a corruption of our system by a few powerful people. The problem, Allan, is us. Not necessarily you and I, but probably the majority of our neighbors, colleagues, friends and relatives. Certainly a few powerful people played a critical enabling role, for their own personal enrichment. And I would be happy to see them suffer far, far more. But there are way too many ordinary middle-class people who believe that they can consume more than they produce during their lifetime, using asset-price inflation fueled by borrowed money. That’s the real bubble that needs to be pricked.
