America's Brewing Debt Crisis

Almost as soon as the financial crisis struck in late 2007, policy-makers began working to prevent another one. The roots of the crisis, they contended, lay in reckless lending and excess debt. Banks had made massive loans to “subprime” borrowers, who had little ability to repay them, and the banks funded these investments with borrowed money. When the US housing bubble burst, millions of Americans defaulted on their mortgages, and the overleveraged banks collapsed. The government had to bail them out, and US taxpayers picked up the bill.

"America's Brewing Debt Crisis" is from the September/October 2016 issue of Foreign Affairs.

©2016 Foreign Affairs (P)2016 Audible, Inc.