Articles

1. Ginnie Mae’s Troubling Endorsements

   December 09, 2009

   The trouble signs surrounding Lend America had been building for years. A top executive was convicted of mortgage fraud but still helped run the company. Home loans made by its headquarters were defaulting at an extremely high rate. Federal prosecutors alleged in a civil suit that the company falsified loan documents and committed fraud. Read more

2. You Broke It, You Fix It?

   August 25, 2009

   Firms that fed off the subprime lending frenzy that devastated the banking system are lining up to collect more than $21 billion in taxpayer funds meant to help bail out borrowers now in trouble on their loans. Read more

3. The Roots of the Financial Crisis: Who Is to Blame?

   May 06, 2009

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4. Predatory Lending: A Decade of Warnings

   May 06, 2009

   A little more than a decade ago, William Brennan foresaw the financial collapse of 2008. Read more

5. Meltdown 101

   May 06, 2009

   Just how did we get into this economic mess? The answers are both complex and troubling. Blame greed, irresponsibility, lax government oversight, conflicts of interest and especially blind faith in a housing boom that seemingly had no end. But end it did, setting off a chain reaction that has left the economy in tatters and stuck the American people with the tab. Read more

6. Commentary: The Mega-Banks Behind the Meltdown

   May 06, 2009

   There is something of a myth surrounding the current economic crisis, how it unfolded, and the precise role of the world’s largest financial institutions in the global meltdown. That myth suggests these banks and investment houses were somehow surprised “victims” of unscrupulous subprime mortgage lenders, and that they could not have anticipated the damaging toxic assets that have so infected their balance sheets. Read more

7. The Financial Meltdown: A Glossary

   May 06, 2009

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