Do you think the US mortgage lenders will put

[Robert B]

the US into a recession? No more easy money. If you're a democrat (I lean towards the left myself), you can't pin this on Bush. Clinton established this policy which I believe will severely hurt the US for the next couple of years. Did I hear someone say "bail out?"

[Goonigal]

Jimmy Carter did in the 70s. By the time Reagan came into office Mortgage rates were nearly 22%. You might as well have put it on a charge card. This is when women HAD to go into the workforce. You then needed two checks to make ends meet. I believe that the economy goes in cycles. So, yes it can happen again. But, I think maybe the feds are going to try to keep interest rates down. I worry about the same thing, as you.

[Andrea B]

The federal reserve has been very cautious about not raising interest rates in order to keep the economy growing. They didn't raise rates at the last meeting about a month ago.

[puckfreak02]

The ones who put people into adjustable rate mortgages (ARM's), yes, they may very well do that.

In the coming year many ARM's are set to readjust to rates that will literally drive many families out of their homes, into forclosure, and God only knows where after that. Lucky for me, I get to help families out of situations like that.

The economy does move in cycles, like a clock. Consider 12:00 as the boom in the economy and 6:00 as the recession periods...like the crash of 1987, Y2K, and 9/11. Eventually, the economy rebounded from all of these events. Just as the hands of the clock move around and around, so the economy moves through it's cycle of "boom and bust."

Our current savings rate is suffering also. Average Americans spend $1.22 for every $1 they earn and the average family has about $9,000 in credit card debt.

I just feel bad for people who do not understand the economic and stock market cycle and will pull their money out when things start to look bad, only to miss out on all of the growth their money could have experienced once the economic cycle starts to move toward the favorable direction again.

The smart people bought, or at least stayed in, after 9/11 while many people sold. Buy low, sell high, often not as simple as it sounds but it is how the rich get, and stay, rich.

So yeah, you're right, many mortgage companies will not help the situation and many more will indeed make things worse for a lot of people.