Norm, you are right about the "greed" on both sides. I think I would call it a desire of monetary opportunitism. people thought that they better get on the band wagon and get a house before the rates and prices would rise. The banks are not local but national competitors.
Interest rates are too low. That is why people are looking for that little edge, the 1/2 % of better return. Thus credit defauts and other crazy financial instruments.
The original posting was about Ford being the only smart one. I would say yes. They hired someone from outside of the auto field. They have a bit more cash so they had the luxury of saying no. You can not take a large sum of money and not expect there to be conditions. People are upset about the interference from the Federal Government. We have even had Ayn Rand advocates. I would not want to live in her world. There is a lot of anger on the board. Maybe some healthy venting. Everyone wants to blame somebody. I think we need Pogo. "I have seen the enemy and he is us" .
We are in pretty good shape as a nation. There are no bread lines. There isn't a massive wave of crime. This stability comes from our government and its institutions. We do not have bloody battles in the streets like post world war I in Germany because of a weak government. We make trade offs. We give up a little to get a lot. We still get to vote, we can live where we want to, work at our chosen job, and your family is your own. Eric