 |
|
Editorial
The recession and the mom factor
Perhaps like many of you, I’ve been trying to understand how this
country got into its financial mess. I search the New York Times business
pages for clues, although finding them isn’t easy. Mostly, the articles
seem long on business jargon and short on clear explanations or stories
of real people. As near as I can figure out, the recession was sparked
by the housing crisis, which in turn was fed by greed (of banks, CEOs,
financial professionals); lack of regulation (by the federal government);
Americans living above their means (most of us) and the tendency of capitalism
to spark all of the above (Adam Smith).
Recently two articles in the Times got my attention, perhaps because they
involved real people. They suggested an additional factor. One examined
the problems of a Pennsylvania construction worker and his wife who were
about to lose their home. Having made payments regularly since buying
the home, they fell behind when the man lost his job. When they tried
to contact their lender, they were stymied. The lender had sold their
mortgage to investors, so it was not clear who the couple needed to speak
to. And the place where they made mortgage payments — called a mortgage
servicer — did not return calls. They fell deeper into debt, as
no one, not even the reporter, could get a real person on the phone to
look into the problem.
A different article profiled the president of a community bank in a small
Pennsylvania town. The reporter was curious whether locally-owned community
banks still existed (it wasn’t easy to find one), and if so, what
they offered. In the age of low-interest Internet loans, the community
bank provides one unique thing, the bank president said: personal service.
He offers mortgages to local people going through hard times because he
knows their families, and it almost always works out. And when people
are deep in debt he helps only if they promise to cut up their credit
cards. And if they don’t? He threatens to call their mother. He’s
kidding, the reporter added — sort of.
What strikes me is that our current economic crisis has something to do
with the decline of community. Mostly the housing crisis hit cities and
suburbs, places where people have little face-to-face contact with those
they live near. The borrower won’t run into the bank president at
the local Little League game, and the banker won’t face a single
mom at the supermarket after she signs on for payments she can’t
afford. No one feels accountable. Bottom line, they don’t know each
other.
Yellow Springs has been touched only lightly by the housing crisis so
far, and no doubt many factors contribute to our good fortune. But perhaps
one reason is that we do know each other. While we don’t have a
locally-owned bank, we have a credit union and two larger bank branches
run by women who live in the community. And it’s a good bet that
they know your mom.
—Diane Chiddister
|
|
