Web Letters: The Subprime Bailout

And after all this, no one mentions the "R" word: Regulation!

In the 1950s, '60s and '70s, we had no such bubbles. Then came Reagonomics and Alan Greenspan. The fact is that none of this had to happpen at all. Greenspan was suppposed to regulate the loan industry with guidelines back in 1994, as Congress had asked.

Then there is the abolition of Glass Steagall. These instruments wouldn't have passed muster in the audit process.

Then there are the accountants and attourneys, creating more Enron-style off balance sheet bookkeeping to hide these "bets," alllowing banks to valuate some tiers of these "assets" at whatever price was convenient for their bonuses.

Does anybody hear a call to re-regulate? Have any of the candidates of either party called for reregulation? Massive Wall Street contributions to Congress and presidential candidates have done their job.

Michael McKinlay

Hercules, CA