On BBC Radio 4 today I heard an American, whose named I didn’t catch, in a panel discussion. He stated, as a matter of fact, that the Wall Street meltdown in 2008 was caused by the government requiring banks to issue subprime mortgages. This is nonsense. Enabling? Yeah, OK, but requiring? No. He’s simply pushing the story that Republicans are using to counter the Occupy Wall Street protests, which have, if nothing else, brought income inequality into the discussion on government taxes and spending. Would increasing the marginal tax rate on the richest Americans by a reasonable percentage lead to Communism, and discourage the next Mark Zuckerberg from pursuing his ambitions? Of course not.
This past week I’ve been hearing, over and over, the laughable assertion that blame for the residential real estate bubble belongs to Barney Frank alone. Was Barney Frank involved? Sure, as I wrote six months ago. Was Frank completely wrong in denying there was a residential real estate bubble? Yes.
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But if any single politician is to blame for pushing mortgages on unqualified borrowers, it’s George Bush, with his “ownership society” initiative.
http://youtu.be/kNqQx7sjoS8