For instance, during the financial crisis, the argument seemed to go as follows depending on who you spoke to.
“The lenders are to blame! They were forcing financially-deleterious deals on people who were ignorant and didn’t know any better. We can’t expect everyone to be a financial genius who can immediate sniff out any problems that arise. That’s what we pay the lenders for – their expertise! We expect that THEY should be the ones doing the due diligence and giving us good advice, especially if their firm has a good reputation.”
“The borrowers are to blame. Those loans aren’t even all that complex. Falling for such blatant financial scams is nobody’s fault but the sucker’s. If I told you I had a ocean-view house in Wyoming to sell you, would you take it? This is just an excuse for people to whine about living out of their means and then blaming everyone else when crap hits the fan. Total lack of personal responsibility.”
So, where do you draw the line? How much should the customer/client be expected to fend for in terms of due diligence? What about the producer/serviceman? Does it depend on the nature of the transaction? Something else? What are your thoughts?