"not to mention that the banking system and the media conspired to delude the populace that "homes only went up" and "housing was supported by strong economic fundamentals" while knowing blowing the largest credit bubble in the history of planet earth?"
No, you are wrong. I believe most of the institutional participants failed to realized that the system would come unglued during their watch. They were are all "trying to make hay while the sun shined", a very human endeavor. I've seen much of it.
In my former life as a valuation consultant and real estate economist, I saw many instances of developers cutting corners they knew would would eventually come back to damage the homes they sold - like disregarding required soils engineering reports. In many of these incidences, however, the homes began to fall apart while the developer was still active in the area. You see, they thought that IF problems developed, the would be dead of old age by that time, or retired and living out of state. Besides, they had insurance against such claims, so they were never personally hurt. And, while some of these lawsuits were going on, owners in the tracts were selling sometime with full disclosure to people who, for whatever reason, discounted the information as unimportant. What that means is, sometimes you can disclosure all the risks inherent in a deal, and there can be people who merely shrug and proceed as if fair warning is just a matter of routine.
So, and once again, there was fault all around in those things leading to the Financial Crisis - "victims" as much as the pushers.
In your view of the world, you would continue to punish drug pushers, but never the addicts, who all have plenty of warning about what the use of drugs can do to one's life. |
