"An Open Letter to my Friends on the Left"
I wanted to write such a thing, but Steven Horwitz beat me to it.
Re: "An Open Letter to my Friends on the Left"
In the interest of fairness, the rejoinder to Steve Horwitz' argument that Freddie, Fannie and CRA i.e. government regulations were to blame:
http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2008/10/causes_and_instruments.php
http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2008/10/causes_and_instruments.php
Re: "An Open Letter to my Friends on the Left"
Hey Lak, thanks for following up. Note that the piece you're citing isn't a direct response to Horwitz, and doesn't really answer his arguments (which are pretty long :-)). Horwitz' article isn't so much about assigning blame (he blames both of the bloated parties) as about working together to prevent future recurrences of overregulation and unintended consequences such as the mortgage bubble burst when good people with good intentions start from the wrong premises.