MANY of the charges most frequently leveled against the economic
policymaking record of Barack Obama are overstated. Businesses
in general are not being victimised: corporate earnings and
profit margins are both at record highs. There has been no
widespread confiscation and redistribution of wealth: the rich
have captured virtually all of the GDP gains since the recovery
began. The state is not really getting bigger: government
spending has increased at its lowest rate since the 1950s, while
public employment has actually shrunk.  This does not mean that
there are no legitimate grounds for criticism—far from it. A
previous post discussed how the American government responded to
the financial crisis by saving incumbent banks and bankers while
doing little for anyone else. This one will focus on the
specific failures of the Home Affordable Modification Program
(HAMP), again referring to two new insider accounts reviewed in
this week’s print edition.  First, some background.
Traditionally, banks kept most mortga