WSJ Op-Ed Piece on Bailing Out Borrowers

The WSJ had a pretty good Op-Ed piece on Andy Laperriere's view on the prospect of the US government helping cash strapped subprime borrowers by freezing their rates. Laperriere is a managing director for ISI in Washington.

He makes some points that have brought out by other naysayers of the plan:
- it would be too hard to figure out who qualifies
- it simply isn't fair to those that don't get to freeze rates ahead of ARM adjustments
- while the mortgage banks may have used sketchy loan originating practices, people need to be held accountable for their actions and bad decisions
- setting precedents like this can create moral hazard issues
- the bailout would essentially try to delay the inevitable and not let economic forces dictate the value of homes ("Home prices were driven to unsustainable levels during the housing boom because imprudent loans created artificial demand for housing. It is inevitable that home prices will fall as that artificial demand is withdrawn.")