The Credit Crisis of 2008

The credit crisis of 2008 will have an effect on us all, one way or another. The bailout of Wall Street banks and investment houses will be paid for by someone… and I’m sorry to say that that someone will be me and you my dear friends.

The root cause of of this financial meltdown was born of greed. The greed of corporate executives in financial behemoths that include Lehman Brothers, Washington Mutual, Countrywide, AIG, Merrill Lynch and countless other firms are to blame for this horrid mess. This will have reverberations through our economy that will be felt for decades to come.

The U.S Congress currently has in their possession proof that while the CEOs were lining their personal coffers with 100s of millions of dollars, they were lobbying Congress for money to pay for their quickly deteriorating bottom lines. In other words, they new the ship was sinking so they grabbed as much cash as they could before it went down.

And let’s not forget for a second the lousy job our government has done. Where is the oversight? is anyone minding the store? It sure doesn’t look like it. Countrywide, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were handing out mortgages to unqualified borrowers like they were candy. They then sold the bad paper to Wall Street who bundled them up and sold them off as securities.

I sincerely hope this angers you as much as it angers me. We will be discussing this much further in posts to come on this blog. Our particular focus will be on how the credit crunch is effecting the credit card industry. It looks like this mess is just beginning to unfold. Their will no doubt be more banks joining Washington Mutual. I think it is safe to say that we will be seeing quite a few bank mergers announced in the not to distant future.