Legal Commentary

The sub-prime mess explained

By Ernest Svenson

At the second debate John McCain was asked a question by one of the town hall attendees about the sub-prime mess. McCain prefaced his response by saying that the questioner 'probably hadn't heard of Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac'. This, in turn, caused anti-McCain folks to accuse him of being condescending. The fact is that the whole sub-prime mess was caused by 'people were supposed to know' failing to act. So, at this point, it's not a stretch to assume people who 'weren't supposed to know things' didn't know them, and maybe still don't.

As a public service to all those people who weren't supposed to know, but who now wish to, I offer this video (which interestingly was uploaded to YouTube in February of this year). If you prefer a powerpoint explanation click here.

Full post as published by Ernie the Attorney on October 22, 2008 (boomark / email).