Things were worse in the past, like the infamous S&L crisis of the 80's...........this current problem pales by comparison. I for one would like to see the FREE MARKET fix things, NOT the govt.
The media does a great job of massaging data to make things look horrible. 400,000 folks are facing foreclosure, but I think there are tens of millions of mortgages in the USA........... Bottom line, the govt is MUCH more worried about the banks and mortgage companies failing than Dick and Jane Smith losing their home.............
"In an effort to take advantage of the real estate boom (outstanding US mortgage loans: 1976 $700 billion; 1980 $1.2 trillion)[citation needed]and high interest rates of the late 1970s and early 1980s, many S&Ls lent far more money than was prudent, and to risky ventures which many S&Ls were not qualified to assess. L. William Seidman, former chairman of both the FDIC and the Resolution Trust Corporation, stated, "The banking problems of the '80s and '90s came primarily, but not exclusively, from unsound real estate lending."
In my opinion it is too early to tell if this will be worse than The Savings and Loan Crisis. There are a lot of similarities and the foreclosures are just beginning. The big difference is low interest rates. Just have to wait and see how it plays out. The media might just be right about this one.
I agree that the market should fix itself and the government should stay out of it.