On Sun, Nov 16, 2008 at 9:39 AM, John Williams <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote:
> In case you missed it, hear is an article from last month. > > http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122298982558700341.html > > How Government Stoked the Mania > Housing prices would never have risen so high without multiple > Washington mistakes This does not make your case for the idea that *regulation* is to blame. In fact, the whole story there is about the government loosening regulations and lowering taxes, not tightening regulations or tax-and-spend politics. No matter what, even this author, a strong advocate of deregulation, couldn't quite bring himself to blame the CRA and Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac. His strongest statement is that they stoked the fire, as the headline reads, not that they lit it. In other words, this adds nothing to what has already been said here. You want to talk about choices and forecasting -- investment bankers and mortgage brokers, who should be as knowledgeable as anyone about these matters, chose, long before the CRA and the government actions, to make these loans, go crazy with leverage and generally bet that housing prices would undergo no major downward adjustments for the next few years. Talk about stupid choices and bad forecasting... Nick _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
