dispatches from TJICistan

So, now the Federal government and leftist activists are going to slap at the evil evil evil bankers, and curb the excesses of the market which gave loans to financially naive poor people, often minorities:

http://www.boston.com/business/personalf…

The Federal Reserve moved yesterday to limit mortgage industry practices that led to an explosion in foreclosures…

The rules proposed by the Fed are aimed mostly at the excesses of the subprime lending boom earlier this decade. The intent is to prevent … borrowers from making bad choices…

This is an interesting change from when the Federal government and leftist activists used to slap at the evil evil evil bankers, and curb the excesses of the market which refused to give sufficient loans to financially naive poor people, often minorities:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redlining

Redlining is the practice of denying or increasing the cost of services … to residents in certain … areas. The most devastating form of redlining, and the most common use of the term, refers to mortgage discrimination.

Which, in turn, was an interesting change from when the Federal government and leftist activists used to slap at the evil evil evil bankers, and curb the excesses of the market which was giving loans to poor people, often minorities:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redlining#H…

…the practice called “redlining” began with the National Housing Act of 1934, which established the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). In 1935, the Federal Home Loan Bank Board (FHLBB) asked Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) to look at 239 cities and create “residential security maps” … the policy effectively meant that blacks could not secure mortgage loans at all.

So, let me get this straight:

Once upon a time, when we had a free market, bankers made loans to poor people.

Then, FDR came into office, and he and the Democratic Congress passed laws to pressure banks to stop making loans to poor people.

Then, in the 1980s, Democrats heckled banks for not making sufficient loans to poor people, and pass laws to force them to change their ways.

Then, in the 21st century, Democrats heckled banks for making too many loans to poor people, and passed laws to force them to change their ways.

We have always been at war with Oceania, and the clock is now striking 13.

(Hey: here’s a question: in 2027, what do you think the received wisdom of Democrats and left wing activists will be with regard to banks loaning money to poor people? I’m guessing that they’re going to say “The banks are doing a perfect job, and we really can’t think of any way that they should be forced, by law, to change their practices. The market ahs got it just right, and any meddling by the government would probably screw things up”.

Ho! Ho! Ho! )

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 19th, 2007 at 10:12 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.