BBC
NEWS
By Greg Wood
BBC North America Business Correspondent, New York“Consider the terrible consequences of the ‘anything goes’ Bush Administration, whose irresponsible non-regulation of financial institutions has led to this crisis.”
Those words, from the Democratic Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, sum up the charge against George W Bush – that in the eight years of his presidency he actively pursued policies of deregulation which caused the biggest financial and economic meltdown since the Great Depression.
It is a grim legacy for President Bush to contemplate as he enters his final days in office – but is it true?
Market collapse
He certainly presided over a widespread failure of regulation.
On his watch, the US authorities did little to prevent the sale of millions of mortgages to people who could never afford them.
They failed to police the market in mortgage-backed securities which has now collapsed with such devastating consequences. …
Tags: anything goes bush administration, financial institutions, irresponsible non-regulation, nancy pelosi
