The financial meltdown of the last decade
Want to get an understanding of what happened with the housing market and the financial meltdown of 2007 and 2008? Go see the movie "The Big Short" or read the book of the same name on which the movie was based. It's a brutal expose' of the games that were played in the financial markets to create the housing boom that led to the housing crash. We're far enough removed from the tragedy that the movie was entertaining and had a number of funny moments. At the same time the events of that time were tragic and it was criminal what people throughout major companies and the agencies - both public and private - created to monitor did. Some thoughts. 1. Why did it happen? The financial markets encourage greed. The goal is quick money not steady, stable results. Maximize profits, make money each quarter. Money is lent based on numbers - what is your credit score. Money is no longer lent based on evaluation of risk. D...