The nation is currently experiencing a
widespread economic crisis affecting many areas of
our market economy, the center of which has its
roots in the real estate market. Around the year
2000, the dot com bust had hurt many investors,
and so people were looking for a secure way to
reclaim their lost investments. The housing market
was steadily increasing each year, and was thus seen
as a very stable market to be investing in.
Unfortunately, the mantra of many investors became
“housing prices will always go up”. Through the
following years, the real estate market experienced a
boom until about 2006, when the situation reversed
itself and developed the credit crisis we have today.1
Many politicians are quick to blame deregulation for
this catastrophe, however, this is false. A faulty
government regulation which was put in place for a
well-intentioned purpose is ultimately the cause of
this economic crisis. This one small action affected
many different areas of conventional housing policy,
the American culture of homeownership, and
essentially the entire economy until there was a
domino effect that ended in disaster. Ultimately, the
housing crisis was a result of greed, corruption, and
misguided ideals that gave way to the widespread
recession now gripping the country.