Danny Schechter asked: According to a Senate report, the starting point of this crisis was in 1997, during the reign of the Clinton Administration. It was then that a period of housing price appreciation began - increasing by nearly 85% until 2006. Home prices jumped by 124%. This was unusual, having occurred only once before in American history, right after World War II.Soon the housing sector was driving the American economy. Within the next few years, seven million families bought homes with subprime loans.Homeowners who may have been cash poor, became house rich, by dipping into inflating home equity either by refinancing or taking out low-cost equity loans. As this business boomed, underwriting standards began to "deteriorate." The banks and other lenders had found a new way to make money - and fast. These [+]