Whenever discussing the causes of the current financial crisis, conservatives are always blaming the government for forcing banks to make risky loans to unqualified people. Well, it seems that Bank of America decided in 2001 to get out of the sub prime mortgage business because it was too risky. As a result, Bank of America is in relatively good condition financially. Nobody forced them to make any loans that they thought were too risky. This completely contradicts the conservatives' claim that the government was forcing banks to make these risky loans. Looks like it was the banks' decision to make these loans, not the government. If Bank of America could choose not to make these risky loans, there is no reason why other banks couldn't have made the same decision.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/...44_page2.shtml
"It's said that one of the main reasons the [Bank of America] is doing well is because of your decision not to get into sub prime mortgages," Stahl said.
"In 2001, my first year as CEO, we decided that we just didn't like the business. It was too risky. And so we decided to get out of it."






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