25 People at the heart of the meltdown

[masomenos]

From Greenspan, to Clinton, to Bush 43, to foreign bankers, to Wall Street Execs...there's plenty of blame to go around.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jan/26/road-ruin-recession-individuals-economy

[Doomsday101]

From Greenspan, to Clinton, to Bush 43, to foreign bankers, to Wall Street Execs...there's plenty of blame to go around.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jan/26/road-ruin-recession-individuals-economy

I notice people who lived beyond their means did not make the list. You know those who buy homes they could not afford or use their credit card like it was magic money. I agree others share in the blame but a big portion in my view goes right on the back of the uncontrolled consumer who refused to live within their own means.

[masomenos]

I notice people who lived beyond their means did not make the list. You know those who buy homes they could not afford or use their credit card like it was magic money. I agree others share in the blame but a big portion in my view goes right on the back of the uncontrolled consumer who refused to live within their own means.

Actually, they did make the list...


The American public

There's no escaping the fact: politicians might have teed up the financial system and failed to police it properly and Wall Street's greedy bankers might have got carried away with the riches they could generate, but if millions of Americans had just realised they were borrowing more than they could repay then we would not be in this mess (http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/feb/11/globaleconomy1). The British public got just as carried away. We are the credit junkies of Europe (http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jan/13/retail.creditcrunch) and many of our problems could easily have been avoided if we had been more sensible and just said no.

[burmafrd]

GREED. On both the borrowers and lenders. And political advantage by the politicians.

[DIAF]

The best profile I have seen/heard about the whole meltdown was the one that was done for This American Life on NPR. If you can grab that podcast and give a listen to it, do it. I heard it on the radio when it originally aired and it was excellent. They interviewed and profiled people from every level of the process..the borrowers, the loan officers, all the way on up to executives at some of these firms (the ones that would talk to them, that is) and it really illustrates exactly how all of this happened.

GREED. On both the borrowers and lenders. And political advantage by the politicians.

obviously. But this tells you exactly what went on and how it was done. It's pretty shocking.

[masomenos]

The best profile I have seen/heard about the whole meltdown was the one that was done for This American Life on NPR. If you can grab that podcast and give a listen to it, do it. I heard it on the radio when it originally aired and it was excellent. They interviewed and profiled people from every level of the process..the borrowers, the loan officers, all the way on up to executives at some of these firms (the ones that would talk to them, that is) and it really illustrates exactly how all of this happened.


I love This American Life, but I missed that episode, I'll have to check it out.

[TheCount]

I love This American Life, but I missed that episode, I'll have to check it out.

GREAT show, NPR does a lot of good stuff in general, but I'm a huge fan of TAL.

[burmafrd]

I bet they had few details on all the political chicanery and pressure by certain members of congress to get rid of so called "discriminatory" qualifying limitations.

[arglebargle]

I bet they had few details on all the political chicanery and pressure by certain members of congress to get rid of so called "discriminatory" qualifying limitations.

And I bet you were never redlined. If they redlined Mel Renfro, they'd redline anyone.

[ScipioCowboy]

From Greenspan, to Clinton, to Bush 43, to foreign bankers, to Wall Street Execs...there's plenty of blame to go around.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jan/26/road-ruin-recession-individuals-economy

This list is utter folly because I'm not on it. And don't give me that "American Public" BS. I demand name recognition, not hopelessly amorphous generalizations.:D

[bbgun]

Hmmm. Barney Frank and the former CEOs of Fannie and Freddie strangely absent. Then again, this is The Guardian.

[ScipioCowboy]

Hmmm. Barney Frank and the former CEOs of Fannie and Freddie strangely absent. Then again, this is The Guardian.

This a valid point.

[masomenos]

Hmmm. Barney Frank and the former CEOs of Fannie and Freddie strangely absent. Then again, this is The Guardian.

With people like Clinton, Phil Graham and Chris Dodd on the list, you're not really claiming liberal bias are you?

[theogt]

They could have put this one higher up on the list:

The American public
There's no escaping the fact: politicians might have teed up the financial system and failed to police it properly and Wall Street's greedy bankers might have got carried away with the riches they could generate, but if millions of Americans had just realised they were borrowing more than they could repay then we would not be in this mess. The British public got just as carried away. We are the credit junkies of Europe and many of our problems could easily have been avoided if we had been more sensible and just said no.

[BrAinPaiNt]

With people like Clinton, Phil Graham and Chris Dodd on the list, you're not really claiming liberal bias are you?

You forget Soros?

[theogt]

With people like Clinton, Phil Graham and Chris Dodd on the list, you're not really claiming liberal bias are you?Graham was a Republican senator responsible for a good bit of the deregulation that caused the housing bubble.

[masomenos]

Graham was a Republican senator responsible for a good bit of the deregulation that caused the housing bubble.

Oops, let's pretend I meant to put Soros on there instead. :o:

[bbgun]

With people like Clinton, Phil Graham and Chris Dodd on the list, you're not really claiming liberal bias are you?

Um, Graham was a Rep Senator. Trying to dissect this crisis without pointing an accusatory finger at Frank or his buddies at FM is like omitting John Wilkes Booth from a Lincoln assassination seminar. Innocent oversight? Don't see how.

[JiggsCasey]

or they could eliminate individuals and make the list a much more succinct two words:

Peak... Oil...

this is a controlled demolition so as to fold the planet into a one-world monetary system in the face of overpopulation and energy scarcity... anyone who insists that's mere "craaaaazy talk" quite usually isn't paying attention to the specific indicators of the past 20 years....

[Sasquatch]

The best profile I have seen/heard about the whole meltdown was the one that was done for This American Life on NPR. If you can grab that podcast and give a listen to it, do it. I heard it on the radio when it originally aired and it was excellent. They interviewed and profiled people from every level of the process..the borrowers, the loan officers, all the way on up to executives at some of these firms (the ones that would talk to them, that is) and it really illustrates exactly how all of this happened.



obviously. But this tells you exactly what went on and how it was done. It's pretty shocking.

I caught it. It was extremely informative although the details now escape me.