

Ty/Tyc/Tyke/Tyster/Tycoon

I think it was because of banking regulations. Or lack thereof.
You know, Paul, Reagan proved that deficits don't matter. We won the mid-term elections, this is our due. : Dick Cheney

I know you do Dodds.
The fox was regulating the henhouse. Media Mum on Barney Frank's Fannie Mae Love Connection
The pressure was on the Fed to make the loans for those turned down to achieve the American dream of owning their own home. The strategy tested poorly I'd say.
If the terrain and the map do not agree, follow the terrain.
When motherhood becomes the fruit of a deep yearning, not the result of ignorance or accident, its children will become a new race.

Addressing all of your points in one point: That is why I said "ontologically speaking". I was not attempting to prove that 1+1=2 is not a base line, reliable equation. I was attempting to make clear to AC that nothing is absolutely and without question, provable.
I was also generally addressing the idea that Darwin's theory was "junk science", simply because it has not proven to be perfect. Most science is subject to some kind or level of error. Because that error is bound to exist does not mean that the science is not sound, it means mostly that science has corrected for found error, as it is supposed to do by constantly testing and challenging its own assumptions.
All I see when I look down, something jumpin' on the ground, Scratchin' dirt, cluckin' in the barnyard -
Tell me, could that be you?
John Kay

Derivative Market Size
United States housing bubble - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaThe Derivative Market Size reached almost $US370 trillion in the first half of 2007. This huge size may be attributed to the upsurge in the participation of bankers, investors and different companies. They used the derivative market instruments as a tool to hedge their risks. Participation also rose due to speculative purposes.
• Market Size of the Global Over-the-Counter Derivatives
There was a 24 % rise in the face value of all the derivative contracts that were traded through the Over – the-Counter market and reached a derivative market size of $70,000 billion. This simply reflects the fact that the face value of the derivative contracts has multiplied 30 times the size of the US economy. Since the inception of the decade the derivative market size has almost quadrupled. With the increase in the size of the Over-the Counter derivative market , notable increases were recorded for foreign exchange, interest rate, equity and commodity based derivative.
The increase in the derivative market size does not imply the increase in the risk taking of the investors. Even then, the overshoot in the face value of the derivative contracts shows the pivotal role that these derivative instruments play in the financial market of today.
Now, you have two very relevant pieces of information. Let's go with what has been a previously agreed upon baseline equation, 1+1=2.Bill Gross, a "most reputable financial guru", sarcastically and ominously criticized the credit ratings of the mortgage-based CDOs now facing collapse:
AAA? You were wooed, Mr. Moody's and Mr. Poor's, by the makeup, those six-inch hooker heels, and a "tramp stamp." Many of these good-looking girls are not high-class assets worth 100 cents on the dollar... [T]he point is that there are hundreds of billions of dollars of this toxic waste... This problem [ultimately] resides in America's heartland, with millions and millions of overpriced homes".
Housing bubble + poor regulation of the rating systems of investment banks = shithole. But, since the really, really, really, really, really deep shithole was not the subprime housing market, but rather that really, really, really, really, really, really huge, big, giant unregulated derivatives market and since that market was LARGER THAN THE ENTIRE US ECONOMY, therein lies the real problem. We can safely assume that 30>1, can we not?
The sad and sorry truth is that, though the housing bubble was fed to a small degree by the existence of those sub-prime loans, it existed and would have existed independently of those loans. The failure of the loans did not create the fact that housing was overpriced by as much as 50%, and even people who did not borrow outside of their means found themselves holding loans that far outstripped the actual value of the property they held. The risk came as much from this inevitable loss of value on the collateral held in check against EVERY loan, as from the sub-prime loans. And it ain't no surprise that the trouble would first evidence itself in those less secure loans. It's like blaming an outbreak of flu on old people and children because they are most vulnerable to it's effects. The truth of the matter is that the problem WAS one of lack of effective regulation, not one of over regulation nor one of the actual risk value of the sub-prime loans. Had the government made the traders accurately label that risk and had the regulators made all the institutions have enough assets on hand to cover their promised payouts in the event of housing market failure, we would not be in the really, really, really, really, really, deep shithole. 1+1=2.
Oh, and none of that is Obama, Dodds or Frank's fault. You can trace that line directly to and through the "regulation evil" spirit of the Reagan/Bush/Conservative ethos.
All I see when I look down, something jumpin' on the ground, Scratchin' dirt, cluckin' in the barnyard -
Tell me, could that be you?
John Kay

See above for whose fault the whole mess is and as I said to my mother: If your first husband shot you and you end up in a wheelchair, you really NEVER get to blame your next husband for the fact that you are in a wheelchair, even if you stay married for 50 years. He didn't fire the gun and it is a shitty attitude to blame him when it continues to cost to provide for your medical expenses that were the result of, you know, the first husband freakin' shooting you.
All I see when I look down, something jumpin' on the ground, Scratchin' dirt, cluckin' in the barnyard -
Tell me, could that be you?
John Kay

If the terrain and the map do not agree, follow the terrain.
When motherhood becomes the fruit of a deep yearning, not the result of ignorance or accident, its children will become a new race.

You do what Roosevelt did, you hire one of the principle masterminds of the devious bullshit that led to the collaspe and tax him with drafting real and effective regulation and then you fucking actually enforce those regulations.
Gallery:431 Days: Joseph P. Kennedy and the Creation of the SEC (1934-35)
All I see when I look down, something jumpin' on the ground, Scratchin' dirt, cluckin' in the barnyard -
Tell me, could that be you?
John Kay

Have you anybody in mind that might? Perhaps a name or two from this article about the repealing, in 1999, of the Glass-Steagal Act? Schumer, Dodd, Gramm, Clinton, ???...? Agreement Reached on Overhaul of U.S. Financial System I think my short list above are not the folk to recruit. The lobbyists and their bosses would be the ones in the know.
Do you perceive a threat from high frequency trading? I can't see the benefits and its not my preferred line of investigation anyhow. Just wondering if you've an opinion.
High-Frequency Trading (HFT))
If the terrain and the map do not agree, follow the terrain.
When motherhood becomes the fruit of a deep yearning, not the result of ignorance or accident, its children will become a new race.
Just the opposit is true. The banks were required by law to make those subprime loans. They were forced to do it, they did not do it by choice. No lending institution would make such terrible loans unless they were forced to do so. It is true that some lenders made bonuses by making those loans. The man who works for Obama, Reigns I think; worked for Fannie or Freddy. He made 200 millions in bonuses alone.
However, your post is an example of how liberals have spun the event. The subprime loan business was a construct of Democrats, starting with Carter, and ended in the distruction of our banking system by requiring banks make horrible loans.
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