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If there was anybody who should have avoided the mortgage catastrophe, it was I," writes
economics reporter for Thee New York Times, Edmund L. Andrews, in this Sunday's Thee New York Times Magazine. That's him, left, in the khakis. Wait, I mean, that's him, left, he's the dude in the khakis. Khakis for both? Really? Don't people look down and say, "Why doesn't one of us change into a smart olive drab trouser, or perhaps even a dungaree, what what!"
Here's how good he is at economics:
"The only problem was money. Having separated from my wife of 21 years, who had physical custody of our sons, I was handing over $4,000 a month in alimony and child-support payments. That left me with take-home pay of $2,777, barely enough to make ends meet in a one-bedroom rental apartment. Patty had yet to even look for a job. At any other time in history, the idea of someone like me borrowing more than $400,000 would have seemed insane.""Bob called back the next morning. 'Your credit scores are almost perfect,' he said happily. 'Based on your income, you can qualify for a mortgage of about $500,000.'"And:
"The paperwork was so confusing that I was never exactly sure who was paying what. I hazily understood that I was paying most of the fees, one way or another, but I couldn’t figure out how, and I couldn’t see any better alternatives."(He blames it all on being in love with his new wife, of course.)
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