I also don't believe the responsibility for the USA economic collapse is the responsibility of consumers. They were doing what their government wanted and gave permission for them to do, through deregulation and opportunistic exploitation of 'the hope' of home ownership in the face of poor credit standing.
Otherwise, Bush wouldn't have had an economy or 'the premission' to continue in DC in 2004.
If this was the status of the USA economy in November 2004, Bush would never be president. The USA debt is more the issue than any consumer issues.
2006 - "The president's budget, now pending before Congress, is a poor expression of our nation's values...." (click here)
Paulson to Propose New U.S. Financial Regulators (Update1) (click here)
By Jesse Westbrook and John Brinsley
March 29 (Bloomberg) -- Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is likely to call for the creation of new regulatory agencies with broad powers over lending, the securities industry and business conduct, according to the draft of a study he commissioned.
The report, which recommends more power for the Federal Reserve, also proposes combining the Office of Comptroller of the Currency -- which dates back to the Civil War -- and the Office of Thrift Supervision into a single banking overseer. In addition, the draft, which was circulated to government agencies this week and obtained by Bloomberg News, calls for the merging of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission....
It's been awhile since our country has had to seriously worry about hard times. But the cost of today's grand national experiment in living beyond our means is finally coming due. How will the nation respond?
