It is absolutely necessary Rodguy from what I can see, and fixing the blame for this financial crisis is a fool’s errand.
There are far too many factors involved to find one culprit.
Poor management at FM/FM were certainly a factor.
Poor lending practices at small institutions, and no requirement for them to bear any risk in the mortages (bundling them and sending to investment firms) was a factor.
Incredibly low interest rates by the Fed to keep the nation out of recession was a factor.
Out of touch homeowners and speculators that actually believed their property was doubling in value every two years was a factor. They number of people refinancing and putting that phantom appreciation in their pockets for higher and riskier paybacks was a factor.
Greedy investors willing to get exorbitant profits on high risk mortgage funds was a factor. Not much different than junk bonds.
Encouraging institutions to grant loans to low income individuals was a factor.
Lack of oversight on this particular piece of the financial markets was a factor.
All of this contributed to the mess we have right now.
I’m just thankful the President appointed men of Bernanke and Paulson’s quality when he did. I shudder to think of a couple of Kerry’s appointments in this situation.