Look up the article in my post to Volunteer. Your wrong! Barney Frank and Chris Dodd single handily forced the banks to lower requirements and with the power of their offices saw to it that that happened. Why do you think neither one of them are running for reelection. The facts were coming out on them. They probably could have been the target of congressional or criminal actions. If we knew the facts we would probably have tared and feathered them and then run them out of town.
They forced Banks to use leverage?
They forced Banks to not check the loan requirements?
They might have said to lower the requirements. But, its the job of the Bank to calculate the risks of the loan and the actual qualifications of said loan.
Look, I said Gov't is the major player. But, the fact that Housing was the main 'producer' is only a symptom of a weak economy.