A Crisis Based on Fantasy?

Heard this morning on NPR- an interview with a individual whose profession is analyzing the domestic and international financial markets, discussing the level of "bad mortgages," which we have had drilled into us Lo! these many months now.

I have organized his discussion into a sic et non set of "Myth vs. Fact."

Myth: "There are trillions in bad / unrecoverable mortgages."

Fact: There are only about eight (8) trillion in total mortgages in the entire U.S.

Myth: "The level of bad / unrecoverable mortgages is a large percentage of the total."

Fact: It's about two (2) percent. Ninety-eight percent (98%) of all mortgages are currently being paid on schedule (not in arrears).

Myth: (From question by NPR interlocutor) But aren't there trillions of these "new" and very risky financial instruments used to compile mortgages for sale in the market?

Fact: There are about two (2) trillion worth of these sorts of instruments total, worldwide.

I would like to advance the following in the form of a debate proposal:

Resolved: We have no basis for even knowing if we are becoming "the tribe that lost its head," if we cannot determine what is and is not factual in the media.

My only weapon against this is a distrust of all media -all- that grows deeper every day.....and that's not a good place to be, either.