"Smart people live within their means and listen to the warning bells."

Not when you're 'too big to fail'. You still just don't get it, do you?

One must be smart, but there's a level of trust given to the lenders to lend responsibly. We're always told to aspire for bigger and better, if that looks within reach because the banks are willing to lend the sorts of money required to get the bigger and better house then it becomes normal.

There will always be the assumption that if the banks are willing to lend such quantities then the banks can afford it, and they've done the relevant financial analysis of the applicant to make sure they can afford it too.

I do agree there should be a level of personal responsibility with all this, but the banks shouldn't have been lending in the way they were in the first place.

"the banks shouldn't have been lending in the way they were in the first place"

That's the understatement of the century. I'm amazed Fixrman doesn't rejoice in the fact it was largely Bill Clinton's fault, but then he's probably ignorant of it.

It would be moronic to say the least that it is largely Bill Clinton's fault because it is WAY more complicated than that.

http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1877351_1877350_1877322,00.html