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THE NEW YORK TIMES
Business

The Reckoning
White House Philosophy Stoked Mortgage Bonfire
By JO BECKER, SHERYL GAY STOLBERG and STEPHEN LABATON
President Bush, who vowed to spread the dream of homeownership, is leaving office amid a downturn rooted in the housing sector he so ardently championed.


"There are plenty of culprits, like lenders who peddled easy credit, consumers who took on mortgages they could not afford and Wall Street chieftains who loaded up on mortgage-backed securitieswithout regard to the risk.

But the story of how we got here is partly one of Mr. Bush’s own making, according to a review of his tenure that included interviews with dozens of current and former administration officials."

Zum Artikel http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/21/business/21admin.html?hp


Hier der Link zu früheren Artikeln in der Serie
"The Reckoning - Articles in this series are exploring the causes of the financial crisis":
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/busin...ning/index.html

On Wall Street, Bonuses, Not Profits, Were Real
By LOUISE STORY
As regulators sift through the financial rubble, there are questions about the role of lavish bonuses in the debacle.
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A Champion of Wall Street Reaps Benefits
By ERIC LIPTON and RAYMOND HERNANDEZ
In Washington, Senator Charles E. Schumer is beneficiary, advocate and overseer of an industry that is his hometown’s most important business.
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Debt Watchdogs: Tamed or Caught Napping?
By GRETCHEN MORGENSON
Lured by profits during the housing boom, credit-rating agencies overlooked the risk of mortgage debt, critics say.
December 7, 2008

Citigroup Saw No Red Flags Even as It Made Bolder Bets
By ERIC DASH and JULIE CRESWELL
Much of the damage inflicted on Citigroup was caused by errant, high-octane trading and lax oversight, critics say.
November 23, 2008

Deregulator Looks Back, Unswayed
By ERIC LIPTON and STEPHEN LABATON
Phil Gramm pushed laws that he says unshackled businesses from restraints but critics say contributed to the financial crisis.
November 17, 2008

How the Thundering Herd Faltered and Fell
By GRETCHEN MORGENSON
Merrill Lynch couldn’t escape the housing crash as record waves of homeowners defaulted on their mortgages.
November 9, 2008

From Midwest to M.T.A., Pain From Global Gamble
By CHARLES DUHIGG and CARTER DOUGHERTY
Wisconsin schools and New York subways are among the players in a financial fiasco that has ricocheted globally.
November 2, 2008

Struggling to Keep Up as the Crisis Raced On
By JOE NOCERA and EDMUND L. ANDREWS
In an interview, Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. said Lehman Brothers could not have been rescued.
October 23, 2008

Building Flawed American Dreams
By DAVID STREITFELD and GRETCHEN MORGENSON
For years Henry G. Cisneros helped low-income families buy homes, part of a trend with dire consequences.
October 19, 2008

Taking Hard New Look at a Greenspan Legacy
By PETER S. GOODMAN
Derivatives have long had a great supporter in the former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan.
October 9, 2008

Pressured to Take More Risk, Fannie Reached Tipping Point
By CHARLES DUHIGG
A decision, made under pressure from Congress and investors, to steer Fannie Mae into dangerous corners of the mortgage market proved to be disastrous.
October 5, 2008

Agency’s ’04 Rule Let Banks Pile Up New Debt
By STEPHEN LABATON
A Securities and Exchange Commission decision helps explain how the financial crisis spun out of control.
October 3, 2008

As Credit Crisis Spiraled, Alarm Led to Action
By JOE NOCERA
During a 36-hour period two weeks ago, the fissures opening in the worldwide financial system convinced policy makers that they needed to act quickly.
October 2, 2008

Behind Insurer’s Crisis, Blind Eye to a Web of Risk
By GRETCHEN MORGENSON
An exploration of A.I.G.’s demise offers insights into the virally connected financial world that is now imploding.
September 28, 2008