Timothy Geithner, December 2006, Federal Reserve Meeting: “Our recent financial-market data don’t, in my view, provide a convincing case for a substantial increase in the probability of a much weaker path for growth going forward.”
David Bernstein, February 2007, Volokh Conspiracy, “America, Meet Mr. Recession?”:
Meanwhile, up to 25% of last year’s loans would not be viable under stricter underwriting standards this year! Wow! Assumedly, that percentage figure is higher in bubble markets. Given the huge role easy home financing and refinancing has played in the 2000s economic boom (some huge percentage of jobs created over the last several years were in construction and real estate, and consumer spending was boosted significantly by “using the house as an ATM”), what’s going to keep the economy afloat?