I started my career in 1980, just amidst that double dip recession. I tried to get a home loan in 1981, the interest rate on a 30 year was 17.5%. I had plenty of income and a 10% down payment, but they wouldn't give me the loan. The good part was real estate prices had crashed, so you had that as a benefit.
The developer who couldn't sell anything in the complex (condos) came up with a 12.5% ARM (3 year) and a $7500 second to get me to 20% DP and I took it. I still lived like a grad student so it was pretty easy to pay it off early. Sold it in 1987 with a $10 K profit.
Those were hard times, really, had I graduated a year later my job prospects would have been dim indeed. High unemployment and 12% inflation ... stagflation ... yikes.
I think it facile to blame our economic woes on some single variable. They often arise from some complex interplay that was happening over years. But it's convenient to blame this or that President or this or that company.
