We did this to ourselves!
We now expect the Fed and the US Gov to bail us out!
We didn't deserve to be bailed out for our own stupidity!
I'm sorry to be the wet towel that puts it all into truth.
But the truth is the truth!
This has *some* technical truth, Bob, but it's faulty logic and misses the mark, overall.
All economic activity relies on market signals. Low interest rates at the FED signals profits in lending, to banks. Low rates on lending signals to businesses that now is the time to invest in long-term projects, even when consumers have given no indication that they intend to postpone current consumption, to free up resources to dedicate to those long-term projects. The coordination of production across time is disrupted. This causes people to both consume for the present *and* build for the future, regardless of savings, and diverts capital into unsustainable projects. This is the cause of the "boom-and-bust cycle" in the economy. Hayek won the Nobel Prize in 1974, for illustrating this fact.
Add to that, lending standards were artificially lowered by law, like the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA.)
As consumers and producers, we have no choice but to follow market signals in order to make decisions in our financial affairs. The FED distorts this fundamental aspect of all economic activity by controlling the
price of money.
I recommend
"Meltdown" by Tom Woods. Not only does it describe the 2008 economic collapse in detail, it's a great introduction to the Austrian Theory of the Business Cycle. It'll help you truly understand the FED.
None of this explains why everyone is up in arms now rather than when the previous administration was doing the damage. Never heard a peep when the oil baron was in power ...
There were peeps, plenty of people were disgusted with G-Dubs. The anti-war left was hysterical...and rightfully so. Mysteriously (or not), these folks have all but disappeared, today. Maybe they were just a bit disingenuous or they're just plain worn out. Folks who are really paying attention realize that it simply doesn't matter who gets elected to office.
One major difference is economic conditions. In fat times, there is a much higher tolerance for abuse than in lean times. Now that the lean times have arrived, it (almost) seems logical (for some) that the person sitting on the throne currently, is somehow to blame. He shares the blame, but so does every president since George Washington, regardless of stripe or banner. But when voters place the blame solely on politicians, they can really only blame themselves...they share in that responsibility.
In reality, the real blame lies on the FED because this is where the real power and influence lies. This is where working people should focus their anger and attention...worldwide.