Wednesday, April 9, 2008

It's NOT "The Economy!"

Liberals want us to think that the current "housing crisis" is because of a "bad economy." It is not. It is because of BAD DECISIONS on both sides. On the borrower's side because they borrowed more than they could afford, trusting the "Adjustable Rate Mortgage" to stay low enough for them to continue to be able to make payments, while unscrupulous lenders made sure their payments rose sufficiently to allow them to take the home back and sell it again to another ignorant buyer. The "ARM" allowed them to sell and foreclose and sell again the same house, numerous times, all at great profit to them and great loss to the buyers. It's funny; they talk about a "major economic collapse" in the mortgage industry, but only a FEW mortgage lenders have "gone belly-up," while 96% of buyers have been able to continue making their payments. The government CREATED this problem when Alan Greenspan urged lenders to use the "ARMs," which ENCOURAGED people who couldn't afford it to take on shaky mortgages guaranteed to rise to levels they could not afford to pay. Now these same politicians are demanding that the GOVERNMENT step in and "fix things." Isn't that a little like asking a criminal to "do something about crime?" (Ludwig von Mises Institute)

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