Postcards: 1993 - Part 5 - The Hiring of Andrew Cuomo at HUD

If you want to understand how America's financial system is so entirely screwed up... look no further than six policy decisions in 1993. Andrew Cuomo was a disaster for the U.S. housing market.

Dear Fellow Expat:

I’m not claiming that the six events we are covering this week are (alone) responsible for the full financial crisis that bears down on us.

I’m not blaming one person – and I’m not taking any political side.

Outside of 1993, we can look at former Fed Chair Alan Greenspan’s decisions after the Dot-Com Bubble, former Congressman Barney Frank’s defense of Fannie Mae, former President George Bush’s changes to leverage at the SEC, the Community Reinvestment Act, and general greed on Wall Street (people were making too much money, to quote Hank Paulson).

But there’s something very notable about these six events that happened in 1993 and have helped fuel the disconnect between the equity markets and the economy, the gaps between the rich and the poor, and the rising cost of living crisis in a post-capitalism world primarily driven by the refinancing of massive debt levels and never-ending bailouts to the banks.

People ask - why are things so expensive?

I’m answering that quest…