Yeah, and those of us who responsibly purchased houses we COULD afford, we get to sit back and watch people live in houses beyond their means. And we get to feel sooooo good about being the smart ones.
If you think the world economy much less the US economy could handle the combined bankruptcies of Lehman, Bear Stearns, Countrywide, AIG, Citi, Bank of America, GM, Chrysler, Wachovia, Washington Mutual, Merril Lynch, on and on and on then you are a fool. There was ZERO choice. Too big to fail unfortunately is right we allowed these companies to swallow each other up and move into every possible financial sector freely until only a handful remain and a slight titter in one can cause economic chaos. Just like the S&L crisis we were treated with a front row show of what happens when you cut regulations and let the free market run wild. We didn't learn then and I doubt we learn now.
The top six banks have become even bigger. WRT to the leverage is less I'll take your word, but any cite and what is the leverage? So if any of these banks were to be fail since they are bigger that would tend to be worse. Also, is there any regulation or thing to prevent the leverage going back to 40 x's or whatever it was? BTW I brought the topic up because of an exchange I had with a friend whose views I generally respect who opposes the bail out at all.
