Penn Jillette is a smart man...

[Ziggurat]

Why don't we start with deregulating the mortgage market? I'm sure it would run much more efficiently without government interference.

It very well might. You aren't under the mistaken impression that the mortgage market wasn't operating under government interference prior to this meltdown, are you?

But I'll tell you why the mortgage market won't be truly deregulated any time soon: high-risk, low-income borrowers would find it much harder to get mortgages without government interference, and politicians want their votes.

 

[RadioactiveMan]

If your political views lead you to conclude that the people who do not share them are "idiots" and "retards," then your political views are most likely wrong.

Something tells me you don't offer the same admonishment to those who toss about the term "Paulbot" or "wingnut."

Which makes it rather hollow.

 

[gdnp]

It very well might. You aren't under the mistaken impression that the mortgage market wasn't operating under government interference prior to this meltdown, are you?

But I'll tell you why the mortgage market won't be truly deregulated any time soon: high-risk, low-income borrowers would find it much harder to get mortgages without government interference, and politicians want their votes.

So you think the problem with the housing bubble and subsequent crash was excess government interference? Was the great depression similarly caused by excess regulation?

 

[RadioactiveMan]

So you think the problem with the housing bubble and subsequent crash was excess government interference? Was the great depression similarly caused by excess regulation?

Smoot-Hawley, tightening of money supply by the Fed...

There's a case to be made.

 

[Ziggurat]

So you think the problem with the housing bubble and subsequent crash was excess government interference?

The problem? I didn't say that. But a problem? Hell yes. Government policies were enacted with the intended effect of getting banks to provide mortgages to high-risk borrowers. And they worked, in that they did indeed encourage such lending. This wasn't done out of malice, and there were benefits to it, but it damned well did have a downside too. Had government not interfered by creating incentives for banks to make high-risk loans, there would have been fewer high-risk loans and hence fewer defaults.

 

[geni]

Very bad comparison. The problem with African governments is not that they are too small, but that they are far too corrupt. Making them bigger would not (and does not) help.

You know when comeing up with problem's with say somalia's goverment corrupt isn't at the top of the list.

I also wouldn't exactly describe the various soviet block goverments and non corrupt.