Times scribe connects dots from housing boom to Bear Stearns
(NEWSER) - The credit crisis that’s roiled financial markets has its genesis in the housing boom that began in 1998, David Leonhardt writes in the New York Times. The boom led lenders to create new financing options—including subprime loans—as investors saw potential for huge returns. Low interest rates encouraged investors, and homeowners, to stretch themselves too thin—and the seeds of crisis were planted. More»