A (Relatively) Concise Summary of the Financial Crisis and the Government's Response

Simon Johnson in testimony submitted to the Congressional Oversight Panel, “Hearing on the TARP’s Impact on Financial Stability,” Friday, March 4, 2011. Johnson, the author of 13 Bankers, has emerged as one of the very few insightful commentators on the recent crisis. I consider his book a "must read." As far as I'm concerned, the actions of the Bush and Obama administrations show two things: (1) the financial portion of our politics has been completely captured by the big financial institutions and (2) it is only a matter of time before we experience such a crisis again unless we do something quickly to reduce the influence of the largest financial institutions on both politics and the economy.