Free Republic

[snipped] Could tightened regulation of subprimes have contained some of the reprehensible, and presumably criminal, acts of lenders? Probably. But the broader crisis would likely have arisen even with increased micro-surveillance. The core of the subprime problem lies with the misjudgments of the investment community. Subprime did not break from its localized niche status until 2005. As Ben Bernanke recently put it: “The deterioration in underwriting standards …appears to have begun in late 2005.” I assume that judgment reflected the increased delinquency behavior that is now evident for loans initiated in late 2005 and subsequently. Subprime securitization exploded because subprime...

ALTADENA, California (CNN) -- When she was laid off in February, Patricia Guerrero was making $70,000 a year. Weeks later, with bills piling up and in need of food for her family, this middle-class mother did something she never thought she would do: She went to a food bank. It was Good Friday, and a woman helping her offered to pay her utility bill. "It brought tears to my eyes, and I sat there and I cried. I was like, 'This is really where I'm at?' " she told CNN. "I go 'no way;' [but] this is true. This is...

And you thought that I had a gloomy outlook on the economy. Now the bad news pops up everywhere. Harry Koza in the Globe and Mail quotes Bernard Connelly, the global strategist at Banque AIG in London, who claims that the likelihood of a Great Depression is growing by the day. Martin Wolf, celebrated columnist of the U.K.-based Financial Times, cites Dr. Nouriel Roubini of the New York University's Stern School of Business, who, in 12 steps, outlines how the losses of the American financial system will grow to more than $1 trillion - that's one million times $1 million....

Nearly 16 years ago in these very pages, I wrote that "'one-size-fits all' rules for business ignore the reality of the market place." Today I'm watching some broad rules evolve on individual decisions that are even worse. Under the guise of protecting us from ourselves, the right and the left are becoming ever more aggressive in regulating behavior. Much paternalist scrutiny has recently centered on personal economics, including calls to regulate subprime mortgages. Health-care paternalism creates another problem that's rarely mentioned... I've come to realize that protecting freedom of choice in our everyday lives is essential to maintaining a healthy...

he hunt continues! A couple of weeks ago we discussed the various types of Realtors one is likely to come across. Now it is time for the loan officers to be exposed. Once again, this post is littered with stereotypes and generalizations, but we all know we have run across these folks at some point in our lending careers so don't get all politically correct on me. It would be wise for consumers to figure out which one they are dealing with. The Gangster: Maybe you haven't heard, gangs and street thugs have figured out that mortgage fraud is a...

<p>Senator John McCain's Reform Institute has suffered some bad press recently due to its involvement in an influence-peddling scandal with Cablevision. As usual, however, mainstream media have failed to go to the root of the matter.</p> <p>Founded on June 26, 2001, McCain's Reform Institute for Campaign and Election Issues has long served as a nerve center for the so-called "campaign finance reform"movement - a movement which has done nothing to clean up campaign finance, but has done a great deal to empower federal judges and government bureaucrats to regulate political speech, in defiance of the Bill of Rights.</p>

Real estate markets are slowing. Interest rates are ticking up. And the phones are ringing at ByDesign, a Los Angeles-based credit counselor, as homeowners start to panic about not being able to make their mortgage payments. "The number of people asking for appointments to talk about foreclosure is definitely up," said Susan Ulaga, the nonprofit service's senior vice president of counseling. Rising rates "are really putting a crunch" on homeowners with adjustable-rate loans. -snip- The timeline 30 days: Your troubles actually start as soon as you miss a single payment. Lenders may not contact you until you've skipped a second...

A house in this wealthy Chicago suburb is far beyond the reach of most Americans. Unfortunately, Hinsdale may also now be too expensive for some of the people who already live here. "There is a section of the population here that over-extended themselves to buy here and then keep up the facade of wealth," said Sharon Sodikoff, a broker associate at local real estate agency Prudential Homelife Realty. "In the next year or so they'll be forced out in dribs and drabs." With a picturesque little downtown area and large, expensive houses -- according to the Headrick-Wagner Consulting Group, the...

American Al Qaeda Leader To Bush: 'We Will Be Waiting For You' Native Californian Al Qaeda Leader Makes Threats Against Bush Middle East Visit Adam Gadahn, as he appears in a new al Qaeda video. (ABC News) American Al Qaeda leader Adam Gadahn told his followers to welcome Bush "with bombs and traps" upon his upcoming visit to the Middle East this week. "The occupied territories are awaiting their first visit by the crusader Bush and the mujahideen are also waiting for him," said Gadahn, a California native and now an Al Qaeda spokesman. Gadahn is the star of the...

On Aug. 9, 2007, and the days immediately following, financial markets in much of the world seized up. Virtually overnight the seemingly insatiable desire for financial risk came to an abrupt halt as the price of risk unexpectedly surged. Interest rates on a wide range of asset classes, especially interbank lending, asset-backed commercial paper and junk bonds, rose sharply relative to riskless U.S. Treasury securities. Over the past five years, risk had become increasingly underpriced as market euphoria, fostered by an unprecedented global growth rate, gained cumulative traction. The crisis was thus an accident waiting to happen. If it had...

Abu Dhabi's purchase of a stake in Citigroup, one of the U.S. banks hit hardest by the spreading mortgage mess, spurred a strong rally on Wall Street yesterday as investors took hope that the growing wealth of Persian Gulf oil states will be used to help avert financial failures in the U.S. Citigroup said it would immediately deploy the $7.5 billion it is getting from the largest emirate in the United Arab Emirates to beef up capital reserves that have been sorely depleted by an estimated $11 billion in losses the company has suffered in the mortgage market. In return,...

What if NBC’s “TO CATCH A PREDATOR” program really did turn its sensationalistic gaze on predatory lenders? It would be consistent, wouldn’t it, with all the true crime shows that dominate the airwaves? And they wouldn’t have to commission new graphics or a a title either. You would think they would want to get ahead of the Courts and the State Attorney Generals who will, one day, be prosecuting what I call the “Subcrime scandal.” After all, it’s a story with billions of dollars missing, millions of victims, and perhaps the whole global economy at stake. It may never happen...