Why is the USA in recession?

[dragonoverlord]

I just heard like lots of people in the USA take financial advice from the bible. Could this be why america is going into recession and there are so many foreclosers?

[Pyrofan1]

it's because all the liberals have stopped believing in Jesus Christ and have started to worship the Devil while having gay blood orgies. if you couldn't tell that that was sarcastic, i pity you.

[dragonoverlord]

if you couldn't tell that that was sarcastic, i pity you. Nah i could Kinda hard not to tell.

[R.D.735]

The reasons for the recession are many, but the big ones are A) The housing bubble collapsing B) The credit bubble collapsing C) Steadily rising living costs while wages have remained stagnant The housing bubble formed when the Fed chose to lower the Federal Funds Rate to ~1.5% in response to the attacks of 9/11 and the tech bubble bursting. The Fed left it that way for quite a while, spurring a wave of loans and mortgages, many of them to borrowers that couldn't afford to pay them back when interest rates were raised. Demand for houses went up, prices went up. When housing prices began to decrease and the interest rate climbed, as has happened recently, borrowers began to default and lending institutions (banks) have been hit hard. They hoped that by selling the loans to other (mainly foreign) banks and lying about their value, they could make lots of money without any risk, but they ended up holding the bag, so to speak. They now have difficulty lending money, even though the Fed has lowered the interest rate pretty far recently. Rising costs and stagnant wages have lots of causes which are too numerous to explain in one post, but they're significant as well, for obvious reasons. I know I've probably left out a few things, but I think those are the major factors.

[Universal Mind]

I just heard like lots of people in the USA take financial advice from the bible. You heard? Where exactly did you hear? Financial advice from the Bible? That is the first time for me to ever hear about that. Can you site some scripture or quotes of Christians or anything?

[Sekhmet]

The reasons for the recession are many, but the big ones are A) The housing bubble collapsing B) The credit bubble collapsing C) Steadily rising living costs while wages have remained stagnant The housing bubble formed when the Fed chose to lower the Federal Funds Rate to ~1.5% in response to the attacks of 9/11 and the tech bubble bursting. The Fed left it that way for quite a while, spurring a wave of loans and mortgages, many of them to borrowers that couldn't afford to pay them back when interest rates were raised. Demand for houses went up, prices went up. When housing prices began to decrease and the interest rate climbed, as has happened recently, borrowers began to default and lending institutions (banks) have been hit hard. They hoped that by selling the loans to other (mainly foreign) banks and lying about their value, they could make lots of money without any risk, but they ended up holding the bag, so to speak. They now have difficulty lending money, even though the Fed has lowered the interest rate pretty far recently. Rising costs and stagnant wages have lots of causes which are too numerous to explain in one post, but they're significant as well, for obvious reasons. I know I've probably left out a few things, but I think those are the major factors. In summary: George W. Bush.

[R.D.735]

I'd say the president has only exacerbated a situation that is, for the most part, out of his control. The scope and size of government has required loose financial policy for decades in order to patch up the economic holes caused by waste and corruption. He put the icing on the cake, so to speak, but he didn't bake it.

[Moonbeam]

In general, presidents get too much blame and/or credit for stae of the economy. Most of it the factors are not under their control. Except in this case, of course; it is Bush's fault. What's the cost of the war up to now?

[Kushna Mufeed]

In summary: George W. Bush. My thoughts, exactly. Well, thought, singular, in this case.

[dragonoverlord]

You heard? Where exactly did you hear? Financial advice from the Bible? That is the first time for me to ever hear about that. Can you site some scripture or quotes of Christians or anything? I heard it somewhere on TV.

[bluefinger]

I heard it somewhere on TV. Don't always trust what is presented on the news... I mean... look at Fox News... enough said

[Replicon]

It's probably "well, the rapture is coming anyway" type things. Why do rapture people tend to assume it's gonna be in their own generation?

[Universal Mind]

"Casteth thou earnings into thy hole which ye dig with shoveling unto the Lord." - Retardations 43:28

[psychology student]

Really, lets blame everything on the Christians, what a blatantly "anti-religious for the fun of it" thread. If that unfounded hypothesis was true, how then has the economy been a world beater for at least 50 years? Under your thinking, it should be put on the Christians as well, they have always been a prominent force in the USA.

[Universal Mind]

Really, lets blame everything on the Christians, what a blatantly "anti-religious for the fun of it" thread. Are you sure it's not an "anti-American for the fun of it" thread? I still want to see some evidence of this "take financial advice from the Bible" bullshit.

[Ynot]

Mary and Joseph rode unto Nazareth but alas, there was no room at the inn "Fear not, fear not" came the cry of the Nazareth financial community "Have this variable rate sub-prime mortgage" "We dare not" remarked Joseph "We have no income to support such a mortgage" "Fear not, fear not" came the cry of the Nazareth financial community "We will sell your debt to a larger multi-national bank - thereby increasing it's value"

[dragonoverlord]

Are you sure it's not an "anti-American for the fun of it" thread? I still want to see some evidence of this "take financial advice from the Bible" bullshit. Not really man,i get all my tv from the usa where i live(in canada). All the good shows are american(canadian shows suk balls,apparently now there is like a mandatory 2 hours of canadian programing a day and that ruined comedy central for me!!!! Try watching the mercer report then the colbert report and then tell me which is better ) so i only hear about america so thats why i mentioned america. Im on a "crusade" against christians not americans, i just like bitching about america but this is really an anti relegion thread,if its an anti american thread then its an anti southerner thread cause u know, that shit doesnt fly in the north.

[Barns]

The USA is in recession due to capitalistic economic processes and globalisation.

[Universal Mind]

if its an anti american thread then its an anti southerner thread cause u know, that shit doesnt fly in the north. That sounds like some pretty solid proof. I'm convinced now. However, the Southerner in this conversation between you and me is the one who knows how to spell and use apostrophes.

[ninja9578]

Where the hell did the bible come into this? Bush is a fundamentalist nutjob, but we're in recession because we've spent 5 trillion in iraq that we don't have. He keeps taxes low (for the wealthy) and expects to spend money. Don't blame the north, we didn't want anything to do with his crusade.

[AbyssNess]

Don't blame the north, we didn't want anything to do with his crusade. Sure, but the liberals in the White House did nothing to stop it either. This is the problem with the American party system. The liberals sit at a distance and hurl insults from their ivory tower while the conservatives dig us into a deeper hole.

[ninja9578]

Not true, we had a 4 trillion dollar surplus by the time dubya took over. We didn't have the white house or the congress when dubya went nuts, that's why he was able to do so. When the congress went blue again they slammed on the brakes, now they're passing all kinds of laws that restrict dubya's spending. He's ignoring them, but the laws are being passed. It'll be interesting to see what happens, congress said that he's not allowed to build permanent bases in iraq, he thinks he has the ability to override that (he doesn't.) The next few months will be interesting, dubya will spend lots of money, but congress won't give it to him.