I have highlighted the actions of previous US administrations with regard to the sale of junk mortgages. On this side of the Pond, the culprit is....wait for it...the EU (
again!)

Quote:
"At the heart of this catastrophe lies a drastic change made last year to banking regulations, which has led to the current freezing of the money markets. Without it, most of the banks that have collapsed, such as Lehman Brothers, might have survived.
Last December, a leading City economist, Professor Peter Spencer of Ernst & Young's Item Club, warned that unless something was done urgently to modify the new rules, the resulting paralysis of the banking system would "make 1929 look like a walk in the park".
Last week, as his prediction seemed to be coming true, the US was moving to change the rules. But in the EU they are enshrined in a directive which could take months, or years, to unpick.

Read the full story here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2008/10/05/do0506.xml