Blame Game - 2007/2008 Financial Crash

[jackson94]

If you had to (gun to your head, make a decision), who would you blame most for the economic crash/meltdown that occured mostly in 2008? (That's the poll).

And, what do you think is important for America, and other countries around the world, to do to make sure we don't end up with the exact same problems again.

[JackShephard]

I blame raisins. Raisins are terrible!

[Korashk]

The government, because every single other option on that list was allowed to do what they did because of the government.

[BFG9001]

Fuckin' raisons, mang.

[JackShephard]

Yes, lets not place any blame on everyday people which are represented by governments. :D

[MisterSix]

A combo of the GOVT, lenders, rating agencies and raisins

[Magus]

American Consumerist culture.

[Genghis Khan]

The fat fucks on Wall Street.

[marcorar]

I think it's more of people trusting stocks too much. Like people invested all their money on stocks cause it seemed to work so efficiently before, but then investments weren't working so well. So I'd say it wasn't so much of Wall Street as it was the investors.

[jackson94]

I think it's more of people trusting stocks too much. Like people invested all their money on stocks cause it seemed to work so efficiently before, but then investments weren't working so well. So I'd say it wasn't so much of Wall Street as it was the investors.

what's the differance? Wall Street was mas most of the investors.

[mac42]

In the US, it was irresponsibility from top to bottom. Policies that were put in place in the 90's caused a fragile bubble that exploded from citizen biting off more than they could chew.

In Europe... Government debt levels has caused a total meltdown. Total fault of the Gov. Thank God my country has a smart financial minister.

Seriously you guys, if you want to see how it should be done, read how Sweden has handled the worldwide financial crisis. Tax cuts... tax cuts... tax cuts... = fastest growth in europe last year.

[jackson94]

In the US, it was irresponsibility from top to bottom. Policies that were put in place in the 90's caused a fragile bubble that exploded from citizen biting off more than they could chew.

In Europe... Government debt levels has caused a total meltdown. Total fault of the Gov. Thank God my country has a smart financial minister.

Seriously you guys, if you want to see how it should be done, read how Sweden has handled the worldwide financial crisis. Tax cuts... tax cuts... tax cuts... = fastest growth in europe last year.

America has it's lowest tax rates since the 1920's, and is in the worst economic state since the 30's. I think there just MIGHT be more to it than that.

[mac42]

America has it's lowest tax rates since the 1920's, and is in the worst economic state since the 30's. I think there just MIGHT be more to it than that.

That's all you got from my post? haha did you read anything about what Sweden has done like I mentioned? I only mentioned ONE aspect of SE plan. Here are a few more things:

No sub-prime mortgages in SE (Low income families can't buy a house they cant afford? Shocker!)

Decreasing debt drastically, which lead to eventual tax cuts. (The current and previous US Presidents are spending disasters. Obama is running to world economy into the ground with all his spending, we all thought Bush was bad...)

No joining the Euro system. (Not really relevant to the US since they have their own currency. But this saved us from the buffoons down south in Europe. )

So you're right... there is a lot more to it than tax cuts. The US was irresponsible and got themselves into a HUGE mess and now they are being irresponsible to get themselves out. Doesn't make sense... You all need a president that understands fiscal responsibility, not how to read a teleprompter.

[Smeagol]

I blame US consumers because we are what drives the economy. We buy stuff and then leave debt and then the government helps bail out things and it is all a mess.

[jackson94]

No sub-prime mortgages in SE (Low income families can't buy a house they cant afford? Shocker!)


Well, this is quite obvious, and it was a symptom of deregulation of the financial markets and incredibly greed and incompetence by Wall St. to continue investing in it.


Decreasing debt drastically, which lead to eventual tax cuts. (The current and previous US Presidents are spending disasters. Obama is running to world economy into the ground with all his spending, we all thought Bush was bad...)

I don't see how the debt is at all relevant to the financial crash. I mean, Bush ran a pretty big debt while the economy was BOOMING, than through deregulation crashed it. I don't understand how people expect Obama to get a defeated economy up again by cutting spending. England and Spain just tried that last month and they have both gone in to double dip recessions because of it. As long as we are confident that next time our economy is strong, that we get a surplus and lessen the debt, I don't see it as a problem.


So you're right... there is a lot more to it than tax cuts. The US was irresponsible and got themselves into a HUGE mess and now they are being irresponsible to get themselves out. Doesn't make sense... You all need a president that understands fiscal responsibility, not how to read a teleprompter.

I think Obama is one of the better presidents we have had fiscally. He has been trying to work with an incompetent congress in the worst economy in nearly a century, and I think has done quite well.

[mac42]

I think Obama is one of the better presidents we have had fiscally. He has been trying to work with an incompetent congress in the worst economy in nearly a century, and I think has done quite well.

Most of the world disagrees. (Not that it matters...) Europeans thought he was going to be great, boost the economy, cut spending, and reduce military involvement. He hasn't really done any of that. I guess we'll see home Americans feel soon enough. It will be interesting.

As far as debt goes, it has a lot to do with financial strength of a country, so it is very relevant. There is good debt and bad debt and both Bush and Obama were taking on loads of bad debt in a short period of time. I feel bad for Americans of our generation who will have to pay it back over their lifetime. It will take a strong leader to come up with a pro-active plan.

[Silicate Wielder]

to me it all boils down to the pricing of our resources and the laws of supply and demand.
We should start from the bottom and have resource prices change as rarity of seperate resources rise and lower then have prices of products equal the cost of resources used to make the prodruct. so say they mine for iron and theres a 75% chance of finding it throughout the world, and to figure out the reatil value you would subtract the change from 100. so then the price for a pound of iron would be 25 cents per pound plus tax. It would equal a stable economy that stays at a constant rate. I call it a probability-based economy.
If I ever become president and the US economy is still a giant dinosaur of mess you know what i will say?
"This Economy is a catastrophic mess... ITS TIME TO OVERHAUL OUR ECONOMY!!"
If the government dosn't agree and goes all against this idea then i'm moving to new england or a contry with a stable economy maybe Japan perhaps? I'm learning japanese :)