Quote of the Day
You have the effects of the MAB [Mutant Asset Bubble] implosion wrong. The MAB has hurt poor people greatly. If you go to subprime areas, you see that it is poor, working class people who were swindled by subprime brokers and are now losing their credit scores, their houses, and in many cases down payments…
You have the effects of the MAB [Mutant Asset Bubble] implosion wrong. The MAB has hurt poor people greatly. If you go to subprime areas, you see that it is poor, working class people who were swindled by subprime brokers and are now losing their credit scores, their houses, and in many cases down payments and closing costs. This is very serious. In addition, all the empty, boarded up houses just encourage crime and destroy the property values of their neighbors’ houses. In sum, poor people were screwed on the way up and they’re being screwed on the way down. The rich are not going to suffer as much.
— by mopar in Last Week’s Biggest Sales
why, dave?
“Forget about who “was more than happy to facilitate” the crime of overborrowing (banks, brokers). The crime was committed by the BORROWERS.”
Uh, no, I’m not going to forget it. Preying on the fact that a lot of people are ignorant, ill-informed, ill-educated, and generally not good with money in order to try to fatten one’s own pockets is equally worthy of punishment.
We’re not trying to deny people’s responsibility for their actions here – the sub-primers should’ve learned more about what they were getting in to. No question. Also, city and state governments should’ve been way more on top of what was happening. The New Yorker piece on the Florida real estate market, a few weeks ago, was horrifying. The whole state government just looked the other way while the bubble grew and grew, founded by insane speculation and extremely shady dealings on the part of realtors, brokers, AND buyers.
Everyone’s in this together. There are too many guilty parties to try and point individual fingers.
for the record, I don’t think anyone here truly would trade a great depression for a bargain on a brownstone if they thought about it for a minute. most of the bears are just rooting for a fair shot at an affordable place, after being tantalized for a decade.
Somehow i would have a lot more confidence if reagan were giving this speech tonight, not Obama. And i say that with a heavy heart.
Thanks, dittoburg! As one of the great forgotten, I agree with that. And certainly with Mopar and benson! My folks were well into their forties when my sister and I surprised them with an appearance, but I also remember my mother being haunted by the Great Depression and the Holocaust as well. There was always a free floating fear that it could all happen again. It wasn’t until my dad retired and they went to Florida did I ever get a feeling that that underlying discomfort had finally gone.
I think it was not liberal enough. definitely not liberal enough. stoner, can I have it back? it was something like:
the cause of the economic crisis was irresponsible borrowing. quit crying for these people who are all going across the street to rent similar houses, only cheaper. they screwed you! their credit scores were already low or they wouldn’t be called “subprime” to begin with, and often took home cash at closing.
how are you measuring how much money rich people lost? (you are not, you’re just being a bleeding heart). didn’t a whole swath of professionals just lose the ability to retire? didn’t a bunch of middle class kids just lose half of their college funds?
Forget about who “was more than happy to facilitate” the crime of overborrowing (banks, brokers). The crime was committed by the BORROWERS. If you borrow money and don’t pay it back, you screw the person who lent it to you. If it can be proven deliberate, it is fraud.
I will probably lose my financial job this year because a bunch of flunkies had to have the awesome kitchens that their friends had.
Stop watching so much TV. No politician and no media outlet will ever spend time telling people that they were all bad and should be ashamed. They will find a villian, and that’s all you will see in the news.
ditto –
“they got nothing from this, and they will get nothing.”
Some of us renters are hoping that we’ll get reduced real estate prices. 🙂
No, its because your grammar is atrocious. 🙂
darn! I just put in a huge rant and it’s being reviewed? is that because I sweared?