George Bush is trying to prop up the US housing market whilst Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers and other financial institutions are shorting it.

I wonder how much of the Central Banks aid package will end up in funds shorting property around the globe. It will help the financial instutions hedge their positions (as Goldman Sachs did so well) but unfortunately will make the crisis worse in the end as it drives property prices down.

Keith, Ashford,

There is a big difference between free markets and megalithically leveraged players in markets that make obscene profits at the expense of so many others, mostly small players to simple overmortgaged lay homeowners of rapidly inflated homes losing all of their life's works savings and credit worthiness. Who made it ethical to pit banks against ordinary working homeowners and then tout the wonders of the "free market system"? Goldman has the top competition of in-house lawyers, bankers, financial experts, brokers, strategists, marketeers and influence. The worker has a wife, children, a dog and a huge mortgage which he knows is a stretch, but how else will he own his own home to house his family? It feels all wrong, looks wrong, and then the banks on the losing side of their bets want the taxpayers to bail them out. This isn't a free market for the home owner, and they are getting squeezed viciously by both sides. This is anything but a free market for ordinary people.

Brian Stewart, Los Angeles, USA

Opening scene.
Boys boys, don’t vorry so much, Goldman Sachs sold and packaged the CDO's to you all so what? Did they force you to buy them? Was there no demand? So they shorted the market of their own toxic waste products, isn't everyone entitled to a little insurance already? So you will see this year we made a few shekels to share amongst ourselves, maybe 18.8 billion dollars or something, maybe 70 million for Mr. Blankfein,who knows, who knows, but we earned it didn't we? Aren’t Mr. Paulson and our own Mr. Bernanke trying to help you all in this little sub prime credit mess? What about our Mr. Rubin taking the helm at Citibank? You think we will not make some more funds available to you all? Haven’t we always? Ok, so the interest will be a little higher, but think of our risks already. Nu, stop vorrying all of you, so a couple of million homes get repossessed, it will be better for you all in the long run, have a nice holiday, be happy, next year you can buy a cheaper home, it will get better, its no sin to make a profit....close curtain.
Free unregulated markets helping us all....but not the rest of us, not yet…(sic)

Keith Pirelli, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

Well done!

Is this the same sub-prime mortgage market out of which GS were creating and selling MBS and other derivatives from 2004 onwards (and at a time when the current US Treasury Secretary was its head)?

In short, were GS shorting the very products they were peddling to others?

Ian, Chalon, France