I’m not trying to pick a fight with you, Ox, and I admire your compassion. But…
[quote=Oxford]
I hear ya but don’t feel it was ALL about greed regardless of the knee-jerk use of that term in these situations.[/quote]
Knee-jerk for some, but this has been my and my wife’s considered position for the whole run-up. We felt the same way about the dotcom bubble when I was working in San Francisco and Sunnyvale right at the peak in 1999.
[quote]Some folks just lost their jobs.[/quote]
I’ve lost a couple due to startups going bust over the past several years, but my wife and I saved for a rainy day and lived way below our means so it was no big deal.
[quote]Some felt an ARM was a good idea thinking they could refinance.[/quote]
Greed.
[quote]The prevailing wind was saying house prices would rise.[/quote]
Greed and stupidity. I had the “houses only go up” argument with a bunch of people during the run-up, and none of them seemed to remember the ’90s.
[quote]Many made, what they felt where, good decisions based on advice from bankers and what everyone else was doing.[/quote]
Greed validated by the greedy. A number of people in my family did the same thing and thought my wife and I were nuts for not diving in for as much as we could. We feel bad for them, or rather for their kids, but they have no one to blame but themselves. They won’t starve, but the nice cars, big house, and pricey toys will have to go. I don’t see the tragedy.
[quote]In many cases it was more about lack of knowledge. Sure, there was alot of greed and bad judgment but many people were well meaning and just didn’t know what they didn’t know.[/quote]
Most of the people in trouble went out and bought as much as they possibly could, as opposed to what they really needed. It’s just plain greed.
