Bailout: An Inside Account of How Washington Abandoned Main Street While Rescuing Wall Street Highlight

As the conservative economist and former chairman of President Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisers Martin Feldstein later argued in a New York Times editorial, the large number of underwater mortgages slowed recovery by increasing the risk of borrowers defaulting on their mortgages, inhibiting the necessary increases in consumer spending, preventing workers from moving to areas where there were greater employment opportunities, and restricting the ability of individuals to tap home equity to start up and expand businesses.