We destroy the beauty of the countryside because the un-appropriated splendors of nature have no economic value. We are capable of shutting off the sun and the stars because they do not pay a dividend. — John Maynard Keynes
The clearest explanation I've seen of our banking crisis (hurricanes apart) came from an economist quoted in El País: Since deregulation in the Reagan years, banks were lending far more money (mostly mortgages) than they actually possessed, counting on constant growth of loan payments & interest (esp. as housing prices rose) to always have enough for new loans. A kind of pyramid scheme, unsustainable when the growth stopped and they were left with unsecured and unrecoverable loans.
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At last I can sleep at night
The clearest explanation I've seen of our banking crisis (hurricanes apart) came from an economist quoted in El País: Since deregulation in the Reagan years, banks were lending far more money (mostly mortgages) than they actually possessed, counting on constant growth of loan payments & interest (esp. as housing prices rose) to always have enough for new loans. A kind of pyramid scheme, unsustainable when the growth stopped and they were left with unsecured and unrecoverable loans.
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