Peter Schiff: Barney Frank lies about his role in the Housing Bubble

Barney Frank, one of the primary villains during the housing bubble, tries to rewrite history to paint himself as the hero. Discussing the five-year anniversary of the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy on CNBC, Barney Frank claimed to have pushed for rental housing over home ownership back in 2004, as he was skeptical about the housing market. He also claimed to have proposed legislation to deal with those concerns, but that Republicans blocked his efforts. However, in 2005 on the House floor, Barney Frank lead an effort to defuse growing concerns about the housing bubble and the risks it imposed on the broader economy. Frank claimed that such concerns were excessive, that a housing bubble did not exist, that mortgage debt was not a problem, that large price declines would not occur, and that housing did not pose any broader economic risks to the banks or the broader economy, which is why he would continue to push for home ownership!


Peter Schiff is a well-known commentator appearing regularly on CNBC, TechTicker and FoxNews. He is often referred to as "Doctor Doom" because of his bearish outlook on the economy and the U.S. Dollar in particular. Peter was one of the first from within the professional investment field to call the housing market a bubble. Peter has written a book called "Crash Proof" and a follow-on called "The Little Book of Bull Moves in Bear Markets". He is the President of EuroPacific Capital, which is a brokerage specializing in finding dividend-yielding, value-based foreign stocks.