
One of the most important "big picture" lessons of The Great Housing Bubble is that when people believe they have no risk, they behave in very foolish ways. One of the most destabilizing impacts on our financial system was the development and widespread use of credit default swaps that convinced lenders and investors that they had no risk in large financial transactions. The people originating and pricing these instruments did not property analyse and price the risks they were taking on, and the resulting collapse destabilized our entire financial system and created the financial debacle we are enduring today. This foolish belief that there is such a thing as a no-risk financial transaction filtered down to individual buyers of residential…[READ MORE]