Looks like someone’s been reading a few too many of those Republican talking points on the financial crisis.
You may not have been aware of this, but apparently “good intentions caused the financial crisis.” That’s the headline of a helpful educational primer for kids on the website of McGraw-Hill, a major provider of school textbooks.
In places, the writeup, which explains the historical background of the push for increased home-ownership, and offers a cogent explication of mortgage-backed securities, is quite helpful.
But it’s hard to tell this story properly if, for political reasons, you have to steer clear of any explicit acknowledgment that the deregulation of the financial system — out of a mix of misguided ideology and fealty to corporate interests — was a major contributor to the collapse. Nor does the flat-out greed and borderline fraud of many major Wall Street banks enter into McGraw-Hill’s telling of the story.
Still, maybe we’re being too harsh. After all, everyone tried their hardest.
Bonus note: In case you forgot, we told you last month about how McGraw-Hill pulled out of a book deal with major financial blogger (and TPM friend) Barry Ritholtz, after learning that the book, Bailout Nation, would slam Standard & Poor’s, the credit-ratings agency owned by McGraw.
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