I agree. Subprime auto loans weathered the 2008 collapse rather well. It looks unlikely that auto loans will bring about a financial collapse. The problem with the housing market was not just repackaging the loans to get a higher credit rating, but also the use of massive leverage. The combination was a disaster.
The oncoming fiscal disaster to me is all about public sector pensions. I see this in IL where every level of state and city government is a mixture of corrupt and incompetent. The debt level has ballooned unsustainably and credit ratings have dropped and dropped. I think the truth of the matter is that the public sector can't manage pension systems. Public pensions should be moved to 401/403b structures where one time payments are made to retirements, rather than an ongoing liability that is subject to political machinations.
Wiggling