Who’s Dodging Blame for the Great Recession?

Investment Opportunities Startups
Peter Lynch
July 26, 2026
0
2
5 minutes read

Phil Gramm and Jeb Hensarling deserve immense credit for dismantling the politically convenient myth that private greed and deregulation caused the 2008 crash in their op-ed “

Alan Greenspan and the Financial Crisis” (July 21).

As Messrs. Gramm and Hensarling explain, the real culprit was central planning that forced government-sponsored enterprises to buy high-risk mortgages. When the house of cards collapsed, Washington tried to shift the blame to private capital through the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission’s partisan report. The document relied heavily on academic contributors, armchair intellectuals with zero industry experience, whose abstract theories distracted from the fundamental cause.

investment News
2005,2008-09 financial crisis,board of governors,central bank,federal reserve,great recession,house financial services committee,housing bubble,kevin villani,monetary policy report,samuel yan,Dragonfly – North America,Dragonfly – World,North America,United States,Economic Performance/Indicators,Economic Growth/Recession,Economic News,Political/General News,Public Inquiries,Politics/International Relations,Domestic Politics,Real Estate/Property,Content Types,Commentaries/Opinions,Editorials,Factiva Filters,C&E Exclusion Filter,C&E Executive News Filter,IWE Filter,Letters,Routine General News,SYND,WSJ-PRO-WSJ.com,Opinion,Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission,Alan Greenspan,Jeb Hensarling,Phil Gramm,LINK|i1-SB10971934054930964284204593344720907995096,economic performance,indicators,economic growth,recession,political,general news,politics,international relations,real estate,property,commentaries,opinions

Author

Peter Lynch

Lynch co-authored several bestselling investment classics, including One Up on Wall Street, Beating the Street, and Learn to Earn. Known for his accessible and common-sense approach to the stock market, he coined the famous investment mantra, "Invest in what you know." This philosophy empowers everyday individual investors to find market-beating opportunities by observing consumer trends and products in their own daily lives before Wall Street notices them.Beyond his writing and investing career, Lynch is a prominent philanthropist. He works actively through the Lynch Foundation to support education, medical research, and cultural organizations. He continues to serve as a vice chairman of Fidelity Management & Research Company, mentoring new generations of financial analysts.

Who’s Dodging Blame for the Great Recession?

Author

Peter Lynch

Recent Articles

Categories

Recent Post

Why two public companies quietly liquidated 511 Bitcoin in 24