A simple narrative is often used to characterize the foreclosure crisis at the heart of America’s Great Recession: While banks are at fault for approving risky loans, people who lived in the homes are as much to blame. ¶ Vanity Fair magazine calls American homeowners “infantile” for living beyond their means. Financial pundits criticize them for splurging on swimming pools and three-car garages. The truth is that real estate speculators and revenue-hungry local governments bear just as much of the responsibility — and maybe more — for the collapse in the housing market.