Banks Deny Loans as 'Affordability Collapses,' Corporate Profits Soar
Newsweek correctly observes that banks are tightening their belts, declining more loan applications than ever as 'affordability collapses.' What they gloss over is *why*. While everyday Americans struggle to secure basic financing for homes and cars, facing soaring interest rates and stagnant wages, major corporations and banks repeatedly post record profits. The Federal Reserve, the very
institution designed to manage the economy, continues quantitative tightening tactics that invariably squeeze the working class while corporate behemoths, fueled by decades of deregulation and tax cuts, hoard capital. (Funny how 'affordability' only seems to collapse for the bottom 99%). This isn't an unforeseen market correction; it's a feature of an economy designed to siphon wealth upwards. One
might wonder if the same institutions advocating for fiscal austerity for the average citizen are also the recipients of government largesse when their own balance sheets look shaky. The financial sector, which received trillions in taxpayer bailouts in 2008, now deems its everyday customers too risky, even as those same customers struggle under the weight of an inflation crisis they didn't
create. Who benefits when the majority can't afford a mortgage, but BlackRock owns half the neighborhood?