The financial crisis has attracted an assortment of accusations including those of irresponsibility, negligence, mendacity and greed. The targets of criticism range from politicians, central bankers, financial regulators, retail bankers, mortgage providers and managers of hedge funds to all the greedy people who borrowed more than they could afford. Probably every one of these groups of people deserves censure, but not all are equally to blame.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has done his best to put the blame on the United States for failing to prevent excesses in lending in the subprime market and for not tackling the crisis quickly enough or in the right way. The subprime problem in the U.S. probably was the trigger for the financial crisis and it can be argued that the U.S. Treasury's handling of the crisis was not always wise or sufficiently prompt.
The nationalization of Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac, the main providers of subprime mortgages, without compensation for shareholders and the decision to allow Lehman brothers to become bankrupt certainly did not help.