The bailout passed the House. Americans can hope for a renewed flow of credit, for better or for worse. We'll leave that for another post. My concern is to try to figure out who was responsible for this mess. So we'll take it piece by piece. Today, we'll discuss the American consumer.
As I've said before, all of the policy and political points that we discuss are so nuanced and so complicated, that to try to generate a simple response or solution to them can be irresponsible. That said, I believe that the American consumer has to share in the blame for this meltdown. By borrowing more than they could afford, and buying homes they had no business buying, these consumers helped create this mess. Case closed? Not really.
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