Media Matters - RW Media Spreads Myth That Affordable Housing Caused Financial Crisis [View All]

Criticizing Democratic efforts to reform regulation of the financial industry, right-wing media figures have begun repeating the myth that affordable housing initiatives are to blame for the 2008 financial crisis, pointing to the 1977 Community Reinvestment Act and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Economists -- including Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke -- have strongly rejected this notion.

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Hannity: "The problem came from ... the Community Reinvestment Act." On the April 20 edition of his Fox News show, Sean Hannity discussed the financial crisis and stated, "We're going to repeat the problem we don't understand." He further claimed, "The problem came from this notion that everybody in America had a right to a house whether they could ever afford to pay their loan back. That's what the Community Reinvestment Act was all about."

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Bernanke: Experience "runs counter to the charge that CRA was at the root of, or otherwise contributed in any substantive way to, the current mortgage difficulties." In a November 25, 2008, letter, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke stated: "Our own experience with CRA over more than 30 years and recent analysis of available data, including data on subprime loan performance, runs counter to the charge that CRA was at the root of, or otherwise contributed in any substantive way to, the current mortgage difficulties."