>On Saturday, June 26, 1999 at 23:13:08 (-0400) Doug Henwood writes:
> >[I asked Jamie Galbraith about his Nation edit, and here's his
> >response. He ok'd forwarding this. - Doug]
> >
> >From: "James K. Galbraith" <Galbraith at mail.utexas.edu>
> >Subject: Re: class struggle
> >...
> > .... The game is really about reducing credit
> >access at the low end; bankers do not like making 75K mortgages to
> >secretaries and nurses.
>
>This sounds like a credible explanation. Doug, do you agree with it?
Sounds odd to me. Bankers like making loans to anyone who'll pay them back. Tighter credit means a weaker economy means fewer people paying their loans back. If bankers didn't like making loans to secretaries and nurses they'd either raise the interest rate to prohibitive levels or refuse to make the loan. If anything, it's the regulators who have to remind bankers about the need to adhere to credit standards.
Doug