AN EDITOR OF FORTUNE MAGAZINE GETS IT RIGHT

I doubt this guy is a closet commie...

The 5 myths of the great financial meltdown
By Allan Sloan, senior editor-at-large June 13, 2012: 5:00 AM ET
FORTUNE
Myth No. 5: It's the government's fault.

Yes, there were plenty of reckless and immoral borrowers taking out mortgages they knew (or should have known) they couldn't afford. And yes, you can make a case that the federal government's zeal to increase homeownership levels was partly responsible for lowering lending standards. But the idea that the government is primarily to blame for this whole mess is delusional. It was the private market -- not government programs -- that made, packaged, and sold most of these wretched loans without regard to their quality. The packaging, combined with credit default swaps and other esoteric derivatives, spread the contagion throughout the world. That's why what initially seemed to be a large but containable U.S. mortgage problem touched off a worldwide financial crisis.