But this is what Alan Greenspan encouraged Americans to do. When normal mortgages did not prime the pump enough, he encouraged them to take out variable-rate mortgages – at a time when interest rates had nowhere to go but up.
借钱投资是一回事，这能强化我们的资产负债表；但把借来的钱用于度假和疯狂消费那就是另一码事了。而这正是格林斯潘鼓励美国人做的。当普通贷款不能满足需求时，他鼓励美国人进行可变汇率按揭—而且在利率只升不降的时期。