Who to Blame on the Economy?

Amidst an economic meltdown on Wall Street, the blame game has started. From Fannie Mae to AIG, who was really responsible for the situation that the Bush Administration has now volunteered taxpayers to pick up.

Republicans blame regular Americans for this economic meltdown. They assert that Americans borrowed too much and could not pay it back causing this mess. People purchased homes or cars that they could not afford. This approach makes sense and takes the blame away from Wall Street and the Bush Administration. As anyone who has a credit card or has applied for a loan knows, it takes two to tango.

Americans have some share of the blame but most of the blame in my opinion should be directed to Wall Street and the Bush Administration. The Wall Street culture of greed has caught up. Individuals motivated by money and having little to no regulation from the Bush Administration set up the environment that we are experiencing.

Banks that expected to make a quick buck off of Americans that could not afford to pay back has come back to haunt them. Banks should not have handed out loans to Americans like they did. Americans should not have accepted them or applied for them. But how can you blame either, when the Bush Administration called for Home Ownership to increase over his tenure in office.

Bush created the environment that Banks needed to achieve his goals. Markets were deregulated. Loan approvals skyrocketed and home ownership increased. Everything was swell in America until now. The blame may not be entirely Bush’s fault but he sure has a lot if not the majority to share.