• Castro, Icon
• Linkfest
• Subprime Primer
• This Round's on Me
• If only there was a word for this type of behavior…
• What is a Man?
• Hope for the Future
• A Dedication
• Atlas Blogged
• US Automakers: Rising to the Challenger?
• Global Warming and Eating Storm Crows
• Yet Another Republican Not Voting for McCain
• ReadableLaws
• Music Genome Project
• Another Great Goal

• February 2008
• January 2008
• November 2007
• October 2007
• September 2007
• August 2007
• July 2007
• June 2007
• May 2007
• April 2007
• March 2007
• February 2007
• January 2007
• December 2006
• November 2006
• October 2006
• September 2006
• August 2006
• July 2006
• June 2006
• May 2006
• April 2006
• March 2006
• February 2006
• January 2006
• December 2005
• November 2005
• October 2005
• September 2005
• August 2005
• July 2005
• June 2005

« This Round's on Me | Main | Linkfest »

Subprime Primer

Via Barry L. Ritholtz at The Big Picture, allow me to share a slideshow that explains the subprime situation. The language may offend but the stickfigure cartoons are very work safe. Click the cartoon below to launch the slideshow.

Whether it's funny or sad may depend on how much money you have lost in the housing market. The same was true of this post from a couple of weeks ago, which highlights exactly what bothers me about this "housing crisis". It's a correction in a market that has long known to be overvalued, and it is not an issue of children sleeping on the streets, as far as I can tell.

Language frames public opinion, which determines legislative action, so calling it a "housing crisis" will attract more government action (and sell more newspapers) than admitting that it's just investors trying to mitigate financial losses by walking out on mortgages and into apartments. Repeat the phrase at your own peril.