the good times they created was selling the dream on credit.
did it matter if people could afford it. no as long as they made money was all that mattered.
and yes people who borrowed shouldered some of the responsability.
i well remember all those junk mail letters coming through the door offering loans credit cards etc
That aspect of banking was very much encouraged by Gordon Brown as chancellor,remember all the talk of the feelgood factor etc ?
most of the boom was due to good and proper trading but the toxic debt of those who had borrowed what they couldnt repay wrecked the whole show.This problem was pointed out to GB and his friends in the boardrooms of certain banks (HBOS for one) many times but the "doom mongers" were either ignored or had their careers ruined to shut them up.
Brown was the man telling those poor fools who had borrowed up to the hilt not to worry,there wouldnt be a problem,the Tory policies which brought boom & bust were but a dim and distant memory.He should be strung up on a lampost for it imo.