General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDon't be fooled. It was bank borrowing that caused the debt crisis, not consumer borrowing.
The financial sector, having burned down the economy, tried to plant the box of used matches in the hands of the public. Ordinary Britons were fingered as a major cause of the crisis due to accepting a rush of cheap credit they couldn't afford.
They glossed over the fact that the banks and building societies were the pushers of the cheap credit. And they also omitted to point out that actually it was overwhelmingly the banks - not the consumers nor the non-financial businesses - that went on a borrowing frenzy.
Why did the banks borrow so much? "Casino banking" is intended to be derogatory, but bankers probably don't realise they are supposed to feel insulted - as it couldn't be closer to the truth. Idiot sons for hundreds of years have been gambling away their family fortunes - relying on indulgent parents to bail them out. Cunning bankers have been gambling the nations money in the same way - knowing that indulgent politicians would bail them out using the taxpayer's money.
MORE good info:
http://www.blog.rippedoffbritons.com/2012/03/who-was-irrational-borrower-that.html
The Magistrate
(95,237 posts)It was leveraged speculation on the part of financiers which crashed the thing....
debt actually became collateral ...
Whiskeytide
(4,459 posts).... is the most unbelievable aspect of the whole clusterf*ck. And, because its such a simple concept and so contrary to common sense, any financial professional that says he/she didn't realize that a collapse was coming is full of shit!
Typo edited.
Segami
(14,923 posts)CasinoBankers = Republicans
AnotherMcIntosh
(11,064 posts)Egalitarian Thug
(12,448 posts)it follows that most of the average suckers are going to accept whatever they are told by those that own the microphone.
cojoel
(952 posts)But they did use all that money to gamble on all those household loans, and if they hadn't gone bad then those bets would have come in and everything would have been fine....