[patientrenter]

Fannie and Freddie were knowing and active parties to the fraud on the entire nation that was committed when vast amounts of money were funnelled into the purchase of overpriced homes.

Yes, they were partly tools of Barney Frank and Chris Dodd and other pols, and of Angelo Mozilo and other mortgage fraudsters. And they were partly responding to loose credit conditions fostered by Greenspan and supply-side Republicans and businessmen. But the people running Fannie and Freddie knew exactly what they were doing, and they were pushing to do more of it.

The truth is that there were very few people who are blameless. Close to 90% of the population of this country were hoping for a giant free lunch from ever-rising asset prices of assets bought with other people’s money. But leaders of the key institutions bear special responsibility, in order of their power:

1. Congress
2. White House and Treasury/Fed Reserve/ SEC etc.
3. Media (who are leaders of public opinion)
4. Real estate and mortgage industry

[patientrenter]

Fannie and Freddie were knowing and active parties to the fraud on the entire nation that was committed when vast amounts of money were funnelled into the purchase of overpriced homes.

Yes, they were partly tools of Barney Frank and Chris Dodd and other pols, and of Angelo Mozilo and other mortgage fraudsters. And they were partly responding to loose credit conditions fostered by Greenspan and supply-side Republicans and businessmen. But the people running Fannie and Freddie knew exactly what they were doing, and they were pushing to do more of it.

The truth is that there were very few people who are blameless. Close to 90% of the population of this country were hoping for a giant free lunch from ever-rising asset prices of assets bought with other people’s money. But leaders of the key institutions bear special responsibility, in order of their power:

1. Congress
2. White House and Treasury/Fed Reserve/ SEC etc.
3. Media (who are leaders of public opinion)
4. Real estate and mortgage industry

[patientrenter]

Fannie and Freddie were knowing and active parties to the fraud on the entire nation that was committed when vast amounts of money were funnelled into the purchase of overpriced homes.

Yes, they were partly tools of Barney Frank and Chris Dodd and other pols, and of Angelo Mozilo and other mortgage fraudsters. And they were partly responding to loose credit conditions fostered by Greenspan and supply-side Republicans and businessmen. But the people running Fannie and Freddie knew exactly what they were doing, and they were pushing to do more of it.

The truth is that there were very few people who are blameless. Close to 90% of the population of this country were hoping for a giant free lunch from ever-rising asset prices of assets bought with other people’s money. But leaders of the key institutions bear special responsibility, in order of their power:

1. Congress
2. White House and Treasury/Fed Reserve/ SEC etc.
3. Media (who are leaders of public opinion)
4. Real estate and mortgage industry

[patientrenter]

Fannie and Freddie were knowing and active parties to the fraud on the entire nation that was committed when vast amounts of money were funnelled into the purchase of overpriced homes.

Yes, they were partly tools of Barney Frank and Chris Dodd and other pols, and of Angelo Mozilo and other mortgage fraudsters. And they were partly responding to loose credit conditions fostered by Greenspan and supply-side Republicans and businessmen. But the people running Fannie and Freddie knew exactly what they were doing, and they were pushing to do more of it.

The truth is that there were very few people who are blameless. Close to 90% of the population of this country were hoping for a giant free lunch from ever-rising asset prices of assets bought with other people’s money. But leaders of the key institutions bear special responsibility, in order of their power:

1. Congress
2. White House and Treasury/Fed Reserve/ SEC etc.
3. Media (who are leaders of public opinion)
4. Real estate and mortgage industry

[patientrenter]

TheBreeze, I’d vote for Obama if I could. (I am not a US citizen.) I am hoping he pursues a Clinton-style fiscal policy, without the Greenspan bubbles. McCain doesn’t seem able to understand economics well enough to say no to someone like a Bernanke. Both appear very weak to me, to be honest, since they are still mostly talking about how much more they want to spend, and what they want to do to reward those who were irresponsible.

So it turns out we are not very far apart on key issues. Getting govt out of housing entirely would be the best thing for the economy in 30 years. I could take almost anything in return for that.

[patientrenter]

TheBreeze, I’d vote for Obama if I could. (I am not a US citizen.) I am hoping he pursues a Clinton-style fiscal policy, without the Greenspan bubbles. McCain doesn’t seem able to understand economics well enough to say no to someone like a Bernanke. Both appear very weak to me, to be honest, since they are still mostly talking about how much more they want to spend, and what they want to do to reward those who were irresponsible.

So it turns out we are not very far apart on key issues. Getting govt out of housing entirely would be the best thing for the economy in 30 years. I could take almost anything in return for that.

[patientrenter]

TheBreeze, I’d vote for Obama if I could. (I am not a US citizen.) I am hoping he pursues a Clinton-style fiscal policy, without the Greenspan bubbles. McCain doesn’t seem able to understand economics well enough to say no to someone like a Bernanke. Both appear very weak to me, to be honest, since they are still mostly talking about how much more they want to spend, and what they want to do to reward those who were irresponsible.

So it turns out we are not very far apart on key issues. Getting govt out of housing entirely would be the best thing for the economy in 30 years. I could take almost anything in return for that.

[patientrenter]

TheBreeze, I’d vote for Obama if I could. (I am not a US citizen.) I am hoping he pursues a Clinton-style fiscal policy, without the Greenspan bubbles. McCain doesn’t seem able to understand economics well enough to say no to someone like a Bernanke. Both appear very weak to me, to be honest, since they are still mostly talking about how much more they want to spend, and what they want to do to reward those who were irresponsible.

So it turns out we are not very far apart on key issues. Getting govt out of housing entirely would be the best thing for the economy in 30 years. I could take almost anything in return for that.

[patientrenter]

TheBreeze, I’d vote for Obama if I could. (I am not a US citizen.) I am hoping he pursues a Clinton-style fiscal policy, without the Greenspan bubbles. McCain doesn’t seem able to understand economics well enough to say no to someone like a Bernanke. Both appear very weak to me, to be honest, since they are still mostly talking about how much more they want to spend, and what they want to do to reward those who were irresponsible.

So it turns out we are not very far apart on key issues. Getting govt out of housing entirely would be the best thing for the economy in 30 years. I could take almost anything in return for that.

[patientrenter]

EconProf,

The factors you quote behind a deflation of the Aussie housing bubble are not shared by all the other countries (like US, UK…) that went through recent housing bubbles roughly simultaneously, and are are experiencing roughly simultaneous deflations. Don’t you think there is a single explanation for all of them that is more important than the differentiating factors?

[patientrenter]

EconProf,

The factors you quote behind a deflation of the Aussie housing bubble are not shared by all the other countries (like US, UK…) that went through recent housing bubbles roughly simultaneously, and are are experiencing roughly simultaneous deflations. Don’t you think there is a single explanation for all of them that is more important than the differentiating factors?

[patientrenter]

EconProf,

The factors you quote behind a deflation of the Aussie housing bubble are not shared by all the other countries (like US, UK…) that went through recent housing bubbles roughly simultaneously, and are are experiencing roughly simultaneous deflations. Don’t you think there is a single explanation for all of them that is more important than the differentiating factors?

[patientrenter]

EconProf,

The factors you quote behind a deflation of the Aussie housing bubble are not shared by all the other countries (like US, UK…) that went through recent housing bubbles roughly simultaneously, and are are experiencing roughly simultaneous deflations. Don’t you think there is a single explanation for all of them that is more important than the differentiating factors?

[patientrenter]

EconProf,

The factors you quote behind a deflation of the Aussie housing bubble are not shared by all the other countries (like US, UK…) that went through recent housing bubbles roughly simultaneously, and are are experiencing roughly simultaneous deflations. Don’t you think there is a single explanation for all of them that is more important than the differentiating factors?

[patientrenter]

TheBreeze wrote: “The home “buyers” who made out best over the last 8 years were those who didn’t put anything down and got either an Interest-Only mortgage or a Pay Option mortgage. Because mortgages are non-recourse, not putting anything down and paying only the interest (or less) allows the “buyer” to take any appreciation upside while sticking any depreciation downside to the bank (by defaulting). Home buyers who got screwed the worst over the last 8 years were those who made down payments as that down payment has now evaporated with home price depreciation.”

You are correct. It was smart of the no-downpayment buyers to take advantage of cheap call options on home prices being offered by lenders. It was idiotic of the taxpayers and lenders to permit this to happen. Financial losses now are providing an effective incentive for private investors to require 20% or higher downpayments in the future. But govt schemes are still allowing homes to be bought with less than 20% of the buyer’s personal savings at risk. And Barney Frank and Chris Dodd are the prime movers behind this part of the screwed-up system. They won’t let go of this lunacy until Democrats like you call them on it.

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