Tuesday, May 07, 2013

"Pull over" and read this one

Thomas Sowell hits yet another one out of the park with this analysis of what smart drivers do when they see a bright red ball bouncing into the street; they slow down and watch out for the child who is chasing it.  He then makes the comparison to government programs, and how the stated purpose of a program is often a bright red ball that politicians chase--bringing the whole country into the path of the semi truck of reality.

I must, however, do a quick "one-up" of Dr. Sowell, because I vividly remember listening to ads for new mortgage products (e.g. 125% loan to value and the like) in the late 1990s and early 2000s and thinking "this will not end well." 

And, of course, it didn't, and, of course, the Obama administration, despite having abundant evidence of what is wrong with promoting risky loans, is working hard to repeat the mistakes of the Clinton and Bush administrations. 

Yup, this will not end well.  And if someone is offering you a subprime loan, just say no.  We may yet finagle another dip in the recession this way as a country, but at least you don't need to go through foreclosure as a result.

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