Housing crisis ahead in county?

catpaw wrote:

Chris, are you saying the loans were not "predatory" and the war in Iraq hasn't drained money from the domestic budget? It seems to me that both points were totally germaine to the subject matter.

Chris wrote:

Catpaw:
1. No, the types of loans in question are not "predatory". ARMs (Adjustable Rate Mortgage) clearly indicate that there is a low introductory rate which increases. One of reasons these became popular is because of how good the housing market has been the past several years. Investors and homeowners believed that they could make a profit based on increase in market value -- therefore, the ARM was an appropriate loan to create a temporary low payment for control of a large asset. They are a legitimate type of loan and certainly not "predatory". The problem was people buying houses they couldn't afford.
2. The war in Iraq has nothing to do with the housing slump (the reason that housing hasn't gotten much attention in the past 7 years is that it has been going well).
As of 2008, the percentage of GDP that goes to military spending is 4.4%. This includes ALL military spending, not just Iraq). In the 1980s, this was between 4.9% and 6.2% and in the 1990s, it was between 3.0% and 4.8%(http://www.truthandpoliti cs.org/military-relative-size. php.)
The war in Iraq has cost money from the budget, but it has had little impact on our overall military spending when put in context with the rest of the economy.
Why would Mr. Bender try to link Iraq with a housing slump unless he is pushing a political agenda? There is no data presented in this article that creates a link between Iraq and a housing slump.
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