Editorial: As one bubble ends; another is just getting started

Editorial: As one bubble ends; another is just getting started

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There's a certain poetry to the notion that the remnants of the housing bubble might be used to ward off the next financial catastrophe facing the middle class: the looming student loan bubble.

But it's not a very soothing verse, nor is it a valid notion.

On Thursday, Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster came to St. Louis to outline the financial settlement reached by attorneys general in 49 states that will offer some financial relief for homeowners who either lost their homes to foreclosure or are paying for mortgages in which they owe more than the home is worth.

Five of the nation's biggest banks will pay $25 billion as a punishment for their role in the crisis that still grips much of America's middle class. Illinois gets about $1 billion; Missouri, $195 million.

It's good that the banks that played such an oversized role in causing the crisis will pay a price.

But it's really too little too late. Even $25 billion is a drop in the bucket when Americans have $700 billion in underwater mortgages.

Some folks who lost their homes will get a check for $2,000. They won't get their homes back.

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/columns/the-platform/editorial-as-one-bubble-ends-another-is-just-getting-started/article_796f3c48-4398-5d72-acb3-73dd4cf7b484.html#ixzz1mI03fqIv