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Respond to… 

• How could government regulations have prevented or mitigated the credit crisis of 2008?
• Discuss whether too much governmental regulation of business or too little governmental regulation of business presents the greater danger to:
o the greater good
o business

After watching the video The Crisis of Credit Visualized, I have a much better understanding of the bigger picture of what happened in the 2008 credit crisis. I was aware that it was a result of the banks giving mortgages to people who they shouldn’t have given a mortgage to, but I didn’t fully understand the reasoning that drove that act. This was a very clarifying video that explained the credit crisis very well.

I think that if the government would have set regulations on the qualifications of a mortgage to regulate the irresponsible lending that occurred to people who could not possibly have afforded the loans that they were taking out, this could have prevented the crisis. Responsible lending and borrowing are important not only for the person taking out the loan and for the bank, but for the entire economy. This is what I think justifies the government regulation in this area because it affects the greater good, not just one person or company. Government regulation of the requirements of who qualifies for a loan, such as the debt vs income ratio, credit score, employment verification, etc., would have averted this crisis.

Government regulation is a tricky subject. Whether too little or too much government regulation poses the greater danger to the greater good and to business is a very difficult question to ponder. “As both government and government regulation have steadily grown, starting in the first half of the 20th century, agencies, as the instrumentality of that growth, have likewise swelled in size and power” (Seaquist, 2012, section 5.1). The government agencies have gained more power in business and have made more regulations and rules over time, but as we have seen in the video The Crisis of Credit Visualized this may be for the greater good of the people. Without these regulations and rules, it seems that wealth and greed can drive businesses and people to act in a way that is detrimental to the greater good.

Too much government regulation on business can be a bad thing for businesses because it imposes more rules and regulations that the business would have to follow, which means more work for the business. For a business this can also become costly because of the amount of money that the business will have to spend to remain compliant, and the amount of money that the business will have to spend in fines if they are found to be out of compliance. “A congressional grant of authority to an agency often includes the ability to carry out investigations, create rules that are the functional equivalent of statutes, hold hearings to adjudicate alleged violation of agency rules, and assess punishment (usually by way of fines) to those adjudicated to be in violation of the agency’s rules” (Seaquist, 2012, section 5.2). The company that I work for in insurance is highly regulated by the government, and as a company we focus a lot of time and money on being a compliant company.

References
Seaquist, G. (2012). Business law for managers [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/
The Crisis of Credit Visualized (Links to an external site.) on Vimeo. (n.d.). Vimeo, Your Videos Belong Here. Retrieved October 19, 2012, from http://vimeo.com/3261363

Respond to… 

How could government regulations have prevented or mitigated the credit crisis of 2008?

Government had the power in their hands to have prevented the credit crisis in 2008. I remember working for a financial institution at the time and we as a bank had a quota to meet in lending. I recall we were pulling out loans like hot cakes, we were lending to people we knew there was no way on earth they were going to be able to pay back that loan. Our loans consisted of no income verification, if a client told us they made $100,000.00 a year working at McDonald’s and wanted to purchase a home for $400,000.00, we gave them the loan. We would take their word for it. It was really sad really, we knew the bomb was going to go off any minute, but we did as we were told.

Many families lost their homes due to the fact, that home prices went up so quickly, people now had so much equity to play with. They were flocking to the banks to pull out the equity of their homes. If the government had not pushed banks to lend as much as they did and had regulated how they lend, this might not have happened.

Discuss whether too much governmental regulation of business or too little governmental regulation of business presents the greater danger to

As per government regulation for greater goods, it is important to implement some form of regulation to give businesses some sense of responsibility. “Many sectors of the business world have long complained about government regulations and their restrictive nature” (Davis, 2018, sec 1). It makes the business take the extra steps so they don’t get fined. “If a big business could speak with one mouth, it would likely say that regulations hold it back and cost everyone in the long run” (Davis, 2017, sec 3).  As per too little regulation, it allows the business to cut corners and take the easy way out to save money. A great example was the banking industry in 2008, they were not regulated, and that caused most of the issues with the Credit Crisis.

Reference

Davis, M.  (2017, August 15, updated).  Government regulations: Do they help businesses?  Investopedia US. Retrieved July 22, 2019, from http://www.investopedia.com/articles/economics/11/government-regulations.asp#axzz2NKQbBiWH