I bought a house in 2006 and I don't blame anyone but myself

My dream of building equity has turned into just staying afloat but I'm not pointing the finger at anyone but myself.

It seems you're pretty realistic but on the other hand I'd suggest that you were betrayed, just like all Americans who work for a living and try to do well, doing the "right" things. I, unfortunately, don't like what I see here in America. And I feel bad for feeling that waybut at bottom sometimes i think we're a selfish-nation. Life sure doesn't look as if the slope of the line goes upward in the economic sphere. I think that's going to be hard to take here in the future. Just my take of the aftermath of the collapse..and betrayal.

While millions of Americans lost their homes in the aftermath of the "Worst recession since the Great Depression," and many of these ones remain jobless, execs are doing better financially than they ever did. As was also hinted in Inside Job, perhaps it's about time someone puts a cap on executive pay.


Adn they're doing better financially even though their companies did not do very well. In spite of the results thye still get paid great sums. i can understand getting paid for great responsibility but if you don't do well does it follow you still expect the same or even more renumeration?

All of the recovery indicators at the moment are positive compared to the start of the recession in December 2007. For example, U.S. gross domestic product has increased ever year since 1996, with the only exception being in 2009, when GDP numbers were slightly higher than they were in 2007. However, in 2010, GDP continued to pick up where it left off and then some as it topped $14.6 trillion--and these numbers are estimated to increase substantially over the next six years as it approaches $20 trillion. Consumer spending, which drives approximately 70 percent of the economy, has increased for the 9th consecutive month. So I'm baffled as to why massive layoffs ever have to occur under such circumstances. While hundreds of thousands of jobs have been added during the past few months, half of the workers who were laid off as a result of the financial crises of 2008 remain unemployed. So if entry level workers aren't reaping the benefits of such productivity, then it would be safe to say that CEOs--some of whom earn over 100,000 times the salary of their lowest paid workers--are getting the lion's share of the windfall profits. Of course some will argue that productivity has not kept up with inflation, however, executive pay has blown past inflation over the past few years.

It's no secret that the announcement of massive layoffs lead to falling corporate costs and rising share prices as corporate execs are handsomely rewarded. How else could one explain why executive pay skyrocketed 23 percent in 2010 despite the wholesale layoffs? So you can understand why I get a little ticked off when corporate extremist blame public worker unions for state budget deficits, when in reality, the primary goals of these unions is to provide their members with a living wage that keeps pace with inflation, along with health and retirement benefits. Just imagine, if corporations treated their workers in kind, then local social and welfare services wouldn't need to be stretched to the limit.

In response to Winner 1234, I could agree with you 100 percent without being hypocritical because I never live beyond my means. For example, for my entire life I have accumulated zero debt. I have never filed for personal bankruptcy protection. Since I never bought a house, or a brand new car for that matter, I have never had my property foreclosed and neither have I ever had my automobile repossessed. I consider myself fortunate because I have had steady employment over the course of most of my working career thus far and haven't experienced any major health problems that would affect my job performance. However, I still empathize with those who have not been as fortunate.

Of course, it was neither party alone, but it was both.

Just check out, from that article:

"...the gap between a worker's productivity and his or her actual living standards had to be filled somehow to preserve lower class complacency. The solution was easy credit, climaxing with subprime mortgage loans. Predatory lenders offered moderate-income folk the promise of home ownership. Lenders knew that mortgage holders would be unable to pay, but this didn't matter: interest rates would rise and yield huge profits through mortgage-backed securities and other fancy derivatives. Yet when payment came due and nobody paid up, the entire system collapsed. "

So as continually previously mentioned, it was a combination of both but with a greater portion of blame on the predatory lenders.


...and another point that article mentions:

"...before you fault homeowners for not properly reading their contracts, ask yourself this: do you read every single word of every contract you sign? No? I didn't think so!)"

Yes I do, I read every contract painstakingly and make sure I understand it fully before signing, sometimes there's too much at stake not to!

Whether you want it or not, you have my sympathy sir. Nobody should be at this kind of risk, trying to house themselves and their loved ones.

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