It was the CRA’s Fault After All!

May 11, 2010 9:15am by Barry Ritholtz

I finally figured out how all of those right wing think tanks went so far off the rails — blaming the Community Reinvestment Act for the housing boom and bust, credit crisis and economic/market collapse.

This has all been a simple misunderstanding. You see, these Think Tanks screwed up their acronyms! They did not realize at the time that “CRA” stood for Credit Rating Agencies.

So when they were told to “go forth and lay all of the blame on the CRA” — they simply picked the wrong 3 letter acronym agency. Its funny how these misunderstandings can take on a life of their own.

Now, if only we can find a high frequency trader named Fred Fannie, we can solve two other mysteries in one fell swoop . . .

Previously:
$100,000 CRA Challenge (Jun 29, 2009)
http:// www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/06/100000-cra-challenge/

Most Subprime Lenders Weren’t Covered by CRA (Jun 27, 2009)
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/06/most-subprime-lenders-werent-covered-by-cra/

CRA Thought Experiment (June 26th, 2009)
http:// www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/06/cra-thought-experiment/

More CRA Idiocy (Dec 11, 2008)
http:// www.ritholtz.com/blog/2008/12/more-cra-idiocy/

FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair on CRA: NOT Guilty (Dec 5, 2008)
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2008/12/fdic-chairman-sheila-bair-on-cra-not-guilty/

Kroszner: CRA & the Mortgage Crisis (Dec 3, 2008)
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2008/12/kroszner-cra-the-mortgage-crisis/

Federal Reserve Director on the CRA (October 4th, 2008)
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2008/10/federal-reserve-director-on-the-cra/

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