Are Government regulations the cause of all troubles?

Walter Williams has an interesting editorial today on the subprime crisis, and the item that drew my attention is its mention of the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977. It appears as this is another example of Government interference with the free markets, and it mandates lenders to offer home ownership opportunities to underserved populations, and each bank must meet the credit needs of the entire community. In other words, this act that was opposed by virtually all economists forces banks to lend to subprime borrowers. It's like affirmative action and equal opportunity for the banking industry. Do you see any link between this and the subprime problems??

I don't think we need to argue anymore that government regulations are only causing more problems. The Freakonomics guys had an article yesterday in the New York Times in which they show, in their own style, how the Americans with Disabilities Act only helps increase unemplyment for americans with disabilities, while the Endangered Species Act does more to endanger the species on the list than to protect them.

When will politicians, especially liberals, udnerstand that the Government cannot fix externalities, and it should just leave the free markets take care of the problems??