Jim O'Sullivan

10 Stupid Moves That Created This Mess

The most important factor you leftout is the Federal government. Congress (no matter which party controlled it at any particular time) and the White House (ditto) pressured the finance industry to lend to people with no down payment money in order to advance the worthy cause of increasing home ownership, especially minority home ownership. That injected the toxins into the financial system that became the raw material for the CDO's that the CDS's insured. Once again, the road to hell was paved with good intentions.