"Jumbo prime" mortgages, decent-quality loans above the price threshold that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can buy at, are likely to be the first part of the new-origination market to come back.

Eventually, papermakers were able to invent a variety of mechanical and chemical techniques engineer decent-quality paper out of pulped wood, a supply that (unlike cloth rags) appeared limitless.

So shoppers will still flock to shops that sell cheap products of decent quality, without asking how these are made.