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What in the world have you been reading to believe any of this? There were a whole lot of factors involved in the subprime crisis, partially free market and pa

What in the world have you been reading to believe any of this? There were a whole lot of factors involved in the subprime crisis, partially free market and partially government. At it's core, the banks were taking on risky loans. Banks package and sell loans as investment vehicles and in order to get these loans off of their books they mixed the risky loans in with the safer ones to sell them. As they sold and passed ratings approval from the institutions that were supposed to identify these risks for investors, other banks did the same in order to compete effectively because the free market incentivizes competition. When businesses discover a new way to make money, others will adopt and impersonate that technique. That was the free market hand in the housing crisis because these investment vehicles were sold everywhere. But the root cause was the risky loans in the first place. All banks had to do to remain stable was continue loaning money after verifying a high level of confidence that the borrowers could pay it back. But their hand was forced. Similarly, if you look at the cost of higher education today it's entirely due to student loans. Supply of admissions at colleges remained relatively the same but demand was sky high. Normally increasing prices would slow demand, but the unlimited supply of student loan dollars allowed it to continually increase in price year over year. As prices go up, income goes up, compensation and construction increases and other institutions have to do exactly the same things to compete. So they do. But all of that is enabled through the firehose of federal money tampering with the free market. I don't know what you have been reading to believe all that, but this is mathematical in its consistency. Yes, regulations are sometimes needed but 9/10 times when there is a financial issue aligned around skyrocketing costs it is due to government interference. Whether housing, healthcare, education or otherwise it's always the same.

ath3nd 3y ago
> But the root cause was the risky loans in the first place. AKA not enough regulation from the government to the business. > As they sold and passed ratings approval from the institutions that were supposed to identify these risks for investors, other banks did the same in order to compete effectively because the free market incentivizes competition. All I read here is that the government needs to regulate financial institutions more and to put some guardrails on investments. And that the market competition is a race to the bottom where you end up everybody selling garbage to the public in order to cut costs, and then tank the economy. Sounds about right. > Similarly, if you look at the cost of higher education today it's entirely due to student loans. Supply of admissions at colleges remained relatively the same but demand was sky high. Normally increasing prices would slow demand, but the unlimited supply of student loan dollars allowed it to continually increase in price year over year. As prices go up, income goes up, compensation and construction increases and other institutions have to do exactly the same things to compete. So they do. Thought patterns like that is why the US has inaccessible higher education, while the rest of us in the civilized world have pretty affordable one. > I don't know what you have been reading to believe all that, but this is mathematical in its consistency. Yes, regulations are sometimes needed but 9/10 times when there is a financial issue aligned around skyrocketing costs it is due to government interference. Whether housing, healthcare, education or otherwise it's always the same. This is the funniest take I've read in a while! You surely can't be serious. The US has arguably the worst healthcare system in the civilized world, it's the whole premise of shows like Breaking Bad and the butt of many jokes. Don't know what copium you've been smoking, but every time when there is a financial crisis, it's caused by the cowboys in the free market getting greedy, lazy or downright stupid, and it's always the government and the taxpayer that has to bail them.

ath3nd 3y ago

> But the root cause was the risky loans in the first place. AKA not enough regulation from the government to the business. > As they sold and passed ratings approval from the institutions that were supposed to identify these risks for investors, other banks did the same in order to compete effectively because the free market incentivizes competition. All I read here is that the government needs to regulate financial institutions more and to put some guardrails on investments. And that the market competition is a race to the bottom where you end up everybody selling garbage to the public in order to cut costs, and then tank the economy. Sounds about right. > Similarly, if you look at the cost of higher education today it's entirely due to student loans. Supply of admissions at colleges remained relatively the same but demand was sky high. Normally increasing prices would slow demand, but the unlimited supply of student loan dollars allowed it to continually increase in price year over year. As prices go up, income goes up, compensation and construction increases and other institutions have to do exactly the same things to compete. So they do. Thought patterns like that is why the US has inaccessible higher education, while the rest of us in the civilized world have pretty affordable one. > I don't know what you have been reading to believe all that, but this is mathematical in its consistency. Yes, regulations are sometimes needed but 9/10 times when there is a financial issue aligned around skyrocketing costs it is due to government interference. Whether housing, healthcare, education or otherwise it's always the same. This is the funniest take I've read in a while! You surely can't be serious. The US has arguably the worst healthcare system in the civilized world, it's the whole premise of shows like Breaking Bad and the butt of many jokes. Don't know what copium you've been smoking, but every time when there is a financial crisis, it's caused by the cowboys in the free market getting greedy, lazy or downright stupid, and it's always the government and the taxpayer that has to bail them.