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FR is becoming a joke when it comes to finance and economics. Few people want to deal with the fact that the policies of the past several years have led us to where we are today. For all of the fears, albeit legitimate ones mind you, about Obama the Bush regime has been an utter failure on economics.

I will say that Obama is a reflection of too many Americans’ need for the government to provide for them. Living beyond one's means has become SOP in the US and once the credit card bill showed up people were unprepared to handle it. Hence, vote for Obama and he will continue to provide.

What is happening now is the aftermath of a credit bubble popping. Cheap and easy credit made possible by the fed and deficit spending by both the public and private sector created an unnatural demand for goods and services. Once the housing bubble popped in later 2005 it all started to come tumbling down. We are now in a deflationary period with asset values being completely destroyed, demand for goods and services severely depressed due to lack of money and credit and absolutely no confidence in the market. It has been going on for over a year.

Bush should have been impeached 3 years ago for fiscal irresponsibility.

“For all of the fears, albeit legitimate ones mind you, about Obama the Bush regime has been an utter failure on economics.”

I like that you take it all into account. It is popular here to hang everything on Obama. There are those among us who have ODS, (Obama Derangement Syndrome). It’s very tempting, and I find I have to check myself on that, because I don’t want to become the right wing version of my left wing brother who has BDS.

I think that a lot of this can be traced to two key events. First is Clinton’s taking the restraints off of the CRA. That was like setting the clock on a time bomb. The second event was 9/11 and the response. In order to keep the economy from tanking, the Bush Administration dropped rates and tried to infuse the economy with cash. It worked, but it worked too well. The availabilty of cash below market value fueled a spending spree.

We’re paying the price now.

Few people want to deal with the fact that the policies of the past several years

It actually goes back much further than just several years.

The point of the article is that zeros policies are exacerbating the problem, probably to the point of total economic collapse.

"Bush regime has been an utter failure on economics."

Bush has been far from perfect, but THE CREDIT BUBBLE WAS NOT HIS DOING!

Bush warned repeatedly that Fannie and Freddie needed to be reigned in. But Congress, particularly the Frank-Dodd Axis of Weasel REFUSED to respond.

Few people want to deal with the fact that the policies of the past several years have led us to where we are today. For all of the fears, albeit legitimate ones mind you, about Obama the Bush regime has been an utter failure on economics.

We do seem to be minimizing the role of W in this debacle. Undoubtedly, he was not a good steward of our financial health and lead o some of the backlash which put the Dims in office. Having an economically bone-headed President for 8 years, who spends a lot more than he takes in, should put a dent in our economy. But instead of a dent, what's happening now is more of a slow-motion train wreck, with a litany of contributory factors to be explored. We tended to review the factors which have a more liberal alignment and skimp on the ones representative of conservative values and free markets. Recently it seems we are more open to investigating all interacting causes, even when some are painful, such as you mention.

Once the housing bubble popped in later 2005 it all started to come tumbling down. We are now in a deflationary period with asset values being completely destroyed, demand for goods and services severely depressed due to lack of money and credit and absolutely no confidence in the market. It has been going on for over a year.

You nailed it - and the problem is that it "ain't over yet".