You knew the subprime loan crisis was bad. Very bad. And you probably thought bad actors were being identified, possibly for criminal prosecution. At least the problem has been identified so it can't happen again, right?
Wrong.
It Is happening again. New subprime loans. Same unqualified buyers. Same conditions. Same people making the loans - sometimes under new agencies, sometimes the same agencies. This time the FHA is guaranteeing these loans. Wait a year, then get ready to write another check to bailout the treasury, for half a trillion dollars. See this week's Business Week cover story for details.
click here It doesn't have to be this way. There is a solution to the 18 year cycle of boom and bust that has repeated over the last 1,000 years (according to economist Mason Gaffney). It is the single tax. Tax the land (also air, water and all natural resources that are not produced by people), don't tax productivity - i.e. end all taxes on wages or on capital (REAL capital like tractors and factories, not that funny stuff they click on spreadsheets on Wall Street). See Henry George's "Progress and Poverty" to learn how to escape land speculation forever and raise productivity and innovation to heretofor unseen heights while eliminating poverty. It's been tried - Pittsburgh, Australia, Denmark etc. - it's simple, and it works.
