Did Foreigners Cause America's Financial Crisis?

[Ted Harris]

Interesting TIME article about root cause of the US financial crisis .... not sure I agree but put a different spin on what I've read and believed before:

"There is no doubt that the pressure on the U.S. financial system [that led to the financial crisis] came from abroad," says Caballero, who is the head of MIT's economics department. "Foreign investors created a demand for assets that was difficult for the U.S. financial sector to produce. All they wanted were safe assets, and [their ensuing purchases] made the U.S. unsafe."

here's the complete article link:

http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1954240,00.html?xid=rss-biztech-yahoo

[Timothy W.]

Originally posted by James Harkness:

I was a loan officer for two years for the leader in the industry originating stated income, stated asset, small commercial mortgages. As I say this, I cringe and prepare for the responses. However, I can tell you one thing. About 75 percent of the loans went to foreigners (or so it seemed) and it was prolly an even larger percentage that applied for the loans. Not sure what that means, but I found it alarming at the time.

Who's more at fault? The foreigners who took those loans (or "seemed" foreign to you) or you for selling those loans? Who was the licensed professional here?

People, the age of blame is over. I went into foreclosure on the first property I bought because I made decisions that put me in a bad financial position and I am responsible for the end result. I took responsibility for my actions and changed my ways. I am positioned just fine for this "crisis" because I know who is responsible my financial situation - me. The buck needs to stop or we'll never turn this crisis around.