Grandad.Malky Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 As this got anything to do with Europe? Regards Malky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speed Demon Posted November 4, 2011 Author Share Posted November 4, 2011 As this got anything to do with Europe? Regards Malky just like the banks and governments, totally irrelevant and pointless to the worlds and people they dictate regards jay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cavegirl Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 I think we need to take some responsibility. It was people taking mortgages they couldn't afford that started the problem. That's simply not true. It might describe the few hundred thousand working class people that were pushed mortgages they couldn't afford by irresponsible bankers, but that's too small a number to cause the financial crash that we saw in 2008. The problem actually related to the middle classes. It started in the 1970's when Nixon completely removed the dollar from the gold standard and then corporations stopped raising wages in line with inflation. People HAD to take out mortgages they couldn't afford in the 90's because real wage growth had stagnated for so long and housing supply was limited around the 'good' schools thus pushing house prices up higher and higher. In the early 70's people could pay their mortgages and still afford to save 25% of their salary with (usually) only one adult in the family working. By 1990 they couldn't afford their mortgage with 2 adults working. It collapsed because people could not continue to work more and more hours (60 hours per week for the average middle class American in 2005) for less and less pay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricgem2002 Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 I think we need to take some responsibility. It was people taking mortgages they couldn't afford that started the problem. and the banks who lent them the money are not to blame then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGuy Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 God almighty, how often do we have to say it... It's the banks, the banks, the banks, that are to blame For God's sake do some independent research and don't believe everything you see in the media. You dont think that all the people taking on mortgages and loans they couldn't afford contributed to the situation at all?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speed Demon Posted November 4, 2011 Author Share Posted November 4, 2011 the banks are to blame, let us all gather a lynching squad and go banker hunting with all guns blazing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
llamatron Posted November 7, 2011 Share Posted November 7, 2011 and the banks who lent them the money are not to blame then if they asked for a mortgage they couldn't afford then they are at least as responsible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ampersand Posted November 7, 2011 Share Posted November 7, 2011 if they asked for a mortgage they couldn't afford then they are at least as responsible. there is a difference between being ignorant and being stupid There is a world of difference between a slick salesman coming along and baffling your brain with numbers but telling you how easy it is to achieve your dream of home ownership, when you don't know the difference between APR, CPI and LOL on the one hand, and an organisation full of directors, managers and senior employees with every financial qualification in the known universe on the other The first group don't know any better and, whilst responsible for their actions, can't be held as culpable as those who have the education, knowledge and experience, but were only motivated by a short term profit Edit - not that this, of course, has anything to do with the death of Europe - which has been greatly exaggerated - it may need a bit of drastic surgery and a bit of amputation round the edges, but it will survive because the main players have too much invested to let it die Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna B Posted November 7, 2011 Share Posted November 7, 2011 there is a difference between being ignorant and being stupid There is a world of difference between a slick salesman coming along and baffling your brain with numbers but telling you how easy it is to achieve your dream of home ownership, when you don't know the difference between APR, CPI and LOL on the one hand, and an organisation full of directors, managers and senior employees with every financial qualification in the known universe on the other The first group don't know any better and, whilst responsible for their actions, can't be held as culpable as those who have the education, knowledge and experience, but were only motivated by a short term profit Edit - not that this, of course, has anything to do with the death of Europe - which has been greatly exaggerated - it may need a bit of drastic surgery and a bit of amputation round the edges, but it will survive because the main players have too much invested to let it die In America salesmen were going door to door in subprime areas trying to persuade people to take out a mortgage to buy their own properties, supported by paperwork that showed them how they would be paying less to buy the place than paying rent. A mortgage was simply a product to be sold and it got the hard sell like any other product. Similarly here in the UK, all checks and balances were done away with to enable people to borrow 5 and 6 times their annual salary. This allowed house prices to rise and rise. If people wanted somewhere to live they had little choice but to pay it, remember rents were high and interest rates incredibly low. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vague_Boy Posted November 8, 2011 Share Posted November 8, 2011 some economist want the present banking system, including currency to be rethought. maybe along the lines of a global currency. one dollar in the us, to be the same as one dollar in zambia. i cant really see that happening, but its a nice thought. if things start to unravel globally though this might happen. It's a terrible idea. Currently if the pound is being debased (and it is) I can take action to preserve my savings by transferring them to another currency. The Swiss Franc used to be very good for this. With a global currency, you've nowhere to go. You've just got to pray that the Keynesians won't print their way out of trouble. (Yeah, like that's ever going to change. ) If a centralized currency is such a good thing, why is the Euro in such dire straits? A "one size fits all" approach clearly does not work with economies as diverse as Germany and Greece. Why would it work with the USA and Zimbabwe? Our current problems have nothing to do with a diversity of currencies. Nor will they be fixed by a single global currency. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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