The government set artificially low interest rates and required banks to approve subprime mortgages in the name of helping disadvantaged minorities who couldn’t otherwise qualify for a home loan. Everyone has a “right” to own a home, went the common expression. The increased demand for homes drove up housing prices, and when the bubble popped and housing prices fell, subprime mortgage defaults skyrocketed, spreading the disease to banking and finance and every other area of the economy. Adding insult to injury, the government implemented more rights-violating regulations in the banking and other industries to supposedly prevent a recession from happening again. However, the new regulations put a damper on the economy and, in the absence of tax cuts and deregulation in other areas, the recovery slowed. The effects are still felt by many today.
Think Right or Wrong, Not Left or Right 