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To: JDN who wrote (74674)	11/27/2007 12:37:03 PM
From: Eric	Respond to of 77400

We all had free money for too long. Most Americans don't seem to be able to manage money well. I mentioned awhile back that on a couple trips to Germany to visit my wifes relatives I found out that the average German carries a revolving debt of about $50. Most purchases are in the form of cash, especially at restaurants. That really surprised me. Americans on average, carry a revolving debt in excess of $10,000 per month! Just pay for it later. A high school friend of mine is president of a local bank here in the northwest and he is shocked at how far this sub prime thing has gone. Like you his bank never played with those loans.

To: JDN who wrote (74674)	11/27/2007 1:25:04 PM
From: John Koligman	Respond to of 77400

You really hit the nail on the head as to why certain banks are doing just fine. The thing that gets me is that the folks that MADE these loans as I understand it for the most part get off scott free. They pocketed the fees up front, the loans were packaged into these exotic CDO's, the quants made their projections that '3 standard deviation' problems were unlikely to occur, and everyone was 'off to the races'. I agree with you that some people were blinded by the housing boom, but I read about so many that are not very sophisticated and were simply taken advantage of. Ticks me off bigtime. Of course, as the CEO's of these large institutions leave with 9 figure payouts, the workers will now leave in large numbers with small severance payments if they are lucky. Regards, John

To: JDN who wrote (74674)	11/27/2007 4:27:50 PM
From: lml	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 77400

Yes, Banks are to blame as well as greedy people. I would disagree on the latter. People may have been ignorant as to the risks they were taking on by assuming the obligations under a good portion of these loans, but that doesn't necessarily make them greedy. Some were just ill-advised, if not just ignorant. The lion's share of culpability for this mess rests squarely on the banks, loan brokers, who profited by the origination of these loans that simply should never have been originated. JMO.

To: JDN who wrote (74674)	11/27/2007 5:43:37 PM
From: Dinesh	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 77400

>Banks are to blame as well as greedy people Why rush to blame? In any case, isn't this how free markets are supposed to work? When one focuses solely on the income statement and ignores the balance sheet, the result is more likely to be financially disastrous than not. The American household leveraged to the hilt and now it's payback time. Just like Citicorp and you-name-it. I imagine arguments also being made about misrepresentation in loans, financially illiterate borrowers, etc. But no one has quantified that yet. It's all anecdotal, not sufficient to hold anyone culpable. Without granting due process, it's no different from lynching. It's not like these fellows were clicking on "I Agree" on an online EULA for a free email account. They knew it was about large sums of money. Regards