solutions, many of them, lie with congress. but there are causes and there are many of them. a simple answer would be the cleanest, the most convenient, out of control deficits or stimulus. it s barack obama or george w. bush, but it s not that simple, not that satisfying. one cause however does stand out amongst many. cheap and ample credit. for years the ability of almost every working american to access more credit than they should have been able to, masked the underlying fact that lower and middle class incomes were not rising. people felt and in many cases actually were wealthier than their salaries or socioeconomic status would suggest. getting a loan and buying a house, often more house than you needed or would have expected to buy, made you feel wealthier. as more people bought those houses, your net worth increased. you borrowed against that house, maybe. maybe you put your kids through college with the money. maybe you bought another house or financed a small busine
solutions and right now, those solutions, many of them, lie with congress. but there are causes and there are many of them. a simple answer would be the cleanest, the most convenient, out of control deficits or stimulus. it s barack obama or george w. bush, but it s not that simple, not that satisfying. one cause however does stand out amongst many. cheap and ample credit. for years the ability of almost every working american to access more credit than they should have been able to, masked the underlying fact that lower and middle class incomes were not rising. people felt and in many cases actually were wealthier than their salaries or socioeconomic status would suggest. getting a loan and buying a house, often more house than you needed or would have expected to buy, made you feel wealthier. as more people bought those houses, your net worth increased. you borrowed against that house, maybe. maybe you put your kids through college with the money. maybe you bought another h