Comments on: Winners of the 2008 Recession & Credit Crisis

By: Roman Levich

Roman Levich — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 20:48:11 +0000

With all being said, human greed was the outright reason that financial markets are failing. The economy was booming, the housing market was amazing, however the rich pushed it over the limit. I am totally againt the bail-out for many reasons. We are living in the system of free enterprise where people get rewarded for the right decisions and get penalized for the wrong ones. The goverhment must not save the financial sector and pay for their mistakes.

By: Eric N.

Eric N. — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 15:50:02 +0000

Interesting list except one thing–I’m not anywhere on it.

By: ladam8518

ladam8518 — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 14:03:32 +0000

I still believe McCain was correct when he stated that the “fundamentals of our economy are strong.” They are strong which is why we haven’t seen total collapse. The concepts and ideas that our economy was built upon still hold. The economy itself my be weak, but the founding ideas still hold true.

What we are seeing is what happens when free-market capitalism is allowed to run rampant with absolutely no checks and balances (which should have and could have been as simple as common sense). The bailouts and fixes are what may be weakening the “fundamentals” as government ownership and support of companies begin shifting our economy towards a more command market socialism. The lack of oversight was a major factor in causing the crisis, but too much oversight isn’t the answer either.

By: jim

jim — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 13:43:00 +0000

I don’t think you can make it that simple – economic weakness, Obama wins; economy OK, McCain wins.

By: Frugal Dad

Frugal Dad — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:05:04 +0000

I disagree–Obama loses the general election without the economic downturn. If you think back to the September/October time frame he had lost momentum and McCain closed the gap, and in a few polls enjoyed a slight lead. But then the economy turned south, and bad new was hammered relentlessly on every major news outlet in the country.

McCain didn’t himself by voting for the $700 billion bailout, either. A vote of “no” to the bailout would have won the election. He could have pointed to Obama and Bush and said, “See, those two are willing to join together to spend your hard earned tax dollars. I’m here to stop that type of spending in Washington.”

I’m disenchanted with both parties, and would have preferred to have a fiscally conservative candidate on either ticket. I suppose that is a missing element in today’s political landscape.

By: MoneyNing

MoneyNing — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 21:54:56 +0000

I think Morgan Stanley (MS) is still alive. You are right that the CEOs were definitely huge beneficiaries though. It was funny when I heard that John Thain wanted $10M in bonuses for essentially signing off on a government aided merger between BofA and Merrill Lynch!

By: Kelly Rusk

Kelly Rusk — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 19:40:15 +0000

That’s funny, I don’t recall any of these “winners” stepping up to help out with the crisis they helped create. I mean if you made $40-million last year, would it be devastating to donate a measly $1-million to help those who now cannot pay the ridiculous mortgage you sold them a couple years earlier?

Just a random thought! Great post.

By: Miss M

Miss M — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 18:24:58 +0000

My best friend was a loan underwriter at an Alt-A lender during the boom, she made bank during those years. She got laid off earlier this year, she was planning to leave to have a baby anyway so it worked out. The company is still above water, barely. They aren’t loaning anymore just servicing the loans they have. I know several people who were mortgage brokers etc, Orange County CA is/was home to many of those firms. Most were in their 20′s making $100k-$200k a year, some saved and basically set themselves up for life. Others are losing their homes and wondering where the gravy train went.