GEORGE W. BUSH: Yes. No, I think there's a lot of people watching. And I remember Bear Stearns fails in the spring of 2008, and we acted. But the interconnectedness of the situation and the money flowing into the country as a result of trade deficits, and foreign investors looking for greater returns, and the housing -- the assumption that the housing prices were going to go up, all led to this, you know, house of cards.
And when it started to collapse, it really started to collapse. And
obviously if there was some way to have stopped it, I would have liked
to have done so. But it was -- I hope it's a once-in-a-lifetime
situation, but they said the Great Depression was a once-in-a-lifetime
situation as well.
The problem is, you've got to be very careful, Candy, not to
over-regulate, because if you try to over-regulate, then investment's
not going to flow. And if investment doesn't flow, then people aren't
going to be able to find work.
CROWLEY: Except I would think, wow, if somebody had set some standards
for loans, these banks would not have been stuck with so much bad paper.
And --
GEORGE W. BUSH: Well, yes, that's right. There were sloppy lending
practices, no question about it. And I wish they would have paid a price.
CROWLEY: But isn't that regulation?
GEORGE W. BUSH: Well, the regulations are on the books about sloppy
lending prices. And, yes -- the danger is, is that -- I mean, the logic
of your questioning is, OK, now in order to prevent a future collapse
from happening, we must over-regulate, or regulate a lot. And the danger --
CROWLEY: Or regulate more.
GEORGE W. BUSH: Well, I mean, it depends on what you're talking about.
The problem is regulation tends to stifle capital investment. And
capital investment is what's necessary to grow the economy. So you've
got to find the right balance.
