The FHA and the Role of Government When Markets Fail by Jared Bernstein

Commenter "readerOfTeaLeaves" writes at OTE:

To put in another (background) layer, which has been brilliantly documented by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, in the background of these housing problems were underlying, quiet changes to the usury and banking laws. These changes occurred in the 80s and 90s, while the GOP controlled Congress and had great sway over federal judicial appointments that interpret legislation related to usury and banking. 

By the early 2000s, the economic pressures for housing – in part because it represented access to good schools (and consequent social mobility) – were almost unprecedented. And many families were loaded with debt at usurious rates that had *not* been permitted in the 30s, 40s, 50s, or 60s because we still had usury laws back then. 

But changes to the banking and usury laws preceded the 2000s, and by 2008 ‘finance’ had become about 40% of America’s GDP. 

I’m not defending FHA (which is beyond my knowledge base). Nevertheless, GOP political expediency in smearing federal agencies, without admitting their own culpability in making changes to usury and banking laws that affected economic security for millions of Americans, is a sign of intellectual cowardice. Is the GOP actually incapable of recognizing the linkages between the fact that suddenly banks could change 16+% interest on credit cards, and the fact that ‘finance’ morphed out of proportion to the rest of the economy…?