The Mortgage Crisis Primer
Posted by Christopher Smith
I just spent an hour discussing the sub-prime mortgage crisis with a group of people and it is becoming increasingly clear to me that 99.9% of people have no clue what this crisis is all about. Since it is a major campaign issue and of significant consequence to our national economy, it’s an issue about which we should all have a base level of understanding.
A few months ago, someone wrote this instructional primer on the mortgage crisis and uploaded it to Google Docs for the world to see. It’s irreverent, graphic, and does a pretty damn good job of breaking a very complicated issue down to consumable bits of information.
Click Here to give it a read
eac Says:May 23rd, 2008 at 1:15 pm
The funny thing is, they’re pretty much exactly how The Economist put it, too.
Without all the swearing & cartoons.
Now that guy needs to do a series about when the Asian banks start trading their dollars for euros… OPEC’s going that way, too, most likely, pegging oil prices to the euro. We’re looking at some lean times ahead here in Consumeramaland.
jen Says:May 24th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
“This American Life” also covered it about two weeks ago. It’s free to listen to online and, as always, very entertaining: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/
hank Says:May 26th, 2008 at 6:16 am
No Crisis Chris–
You take a gamble, like an ARM with a baloon payment, or a pie in the sky “interest only ” Mortgage, or buy more home than you can afford…..
And when it don’t pan out, you leave your risk and your investment and go rent a townhouse.
I should compensate someone for taking a risk I saw as unsound? What the hell for? There’s no guarantee of outcomes when you’re risking your capital–be that in a business or in a loan that might not have factors in your favor later, and look good now.
Too many people think the Constitution guarantees happiness—but it only guarantees the PURSUIT of said happiness.
The sad effect of liberalism on the culture–just like the worst player on the last place kid’s soccer team now gets a trophy, not the motivation to become a better player by taking a bump here and there.