Mortgage bankers and two of the Seven Deadly Sins
Holden Lewis, who blogs on mortgage issues for Bankrate.com, writes a post from the Mortgage Bankers Association's annual convention about his attempt to sum up with an analogy the mood of attendees in this post-boom lending environment. ("A dog that's grasping your favorite shoe in its mouth when you come home? No. A drunk? Nope. A gambler who loses his bankroll in the flush of Vegas fever? Closer, but not quite there.")
In the end, he turns to a more Biblical allusion:
I think mortgage people feel guilty of the sins of sloth and pride.Sloth, because they were passive. Bankers stood between eager (and uninformed) borrowers and greedy (and amoral) Wall Streeters, and they didn't say no to either. ...
Pride, because everyone along the chain -- homebuyers, mortgage brokers, mortgage bankers, real estate investment trusts, investment banks, rating agencies and hedge funds -- everyone thought they were being awfully clever.
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