Quote Originally Posted by Koga No Goshi View Post
then let's get into the ownership society. Whose deal is that?
It's both parties. The "ownership society" has been promoted by both parties.

1994 changes in regulation of employee stock options were a major cause of the 2002 downturn. We had incentives in place to inflate stock prices rather than actual earnings. Dems favored generous employee stock options, to give workers a share of their company. Republicans liked the idea too in 1994, they finally fixed it.

According to US generally accepted accounting principles in effect before June 2005, stock options granted to employees did not need to be recognized as an expense on the income statement when granted, although the cost was disclosed in the notes to the financial statements. This allows a potentially large form of employee compensation to not show up as an expense in the current year, and therefore, currently overstate income. Many assert that over-reporting of income by methods such as this by American corporations was one contributing factor in the Stock Market Downturn of 2002.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employee_stock_option



http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=_MGT_cSi7Rs

Who was pushing home ownership beyond any rational limits?