> I also think it's comforting to think that this was the work of simply some greedy guys on wall street using strange words.
Yes, actually, it was in a lot of cases. From the aggressive use of NINA loans (in some cases targeted at minorities) to selling mortgage-backed securities while betting AGAINST them, the financial industry had a much larger hand in this. Read the Levin-Coburn Report if you'd like to get better informed about what happened: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd...
> are they not equally guilty of wanting to one-up the next guy with a bigger house, a quick flip, a granite countertop, or a cash-out refi
1) The assumption you're making the insinuation that all homeowners engaged in this kind of activity which is an existential fallacy.
2) In situations like this, where one party (the financial industry) has more training, connections, influence, and knowledge and the other (homeowners) have CNBC, it's a stretch to say that the homeowners are the ones to blame.
Yes, actually, it was in a lot of cases. From the aggressive use of NINA loans (in some cases targeted at minorities) to selling mortgage-backed securities while betting AGAINST them, the financial industry had a much larger hand in this. Read the Levin-Coburn Report if you'd like to get better informed about what happened: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd...
> are they not equally guilty of wanting to one-up the next guy with a bigger house, a quick flip, a granite countertop, or a cash-out refi
1) The assumption you're making the insinuation that all homeowners engaged in this kind of activity which is an existential fallacy. 2) In situations like this, where one party (the financial industry) has more training, connections, influence, and knowledge and the other (homeowners) have CNBC, it's a stretch to say that the homeowners are the ones to blame.