^[1]Here’s a link to the famous YouTube video “Burning Down the House” ^[2], which traces (at least some of) the roots of the current financial crisis to the mass production of bad mortgages.  Personally I think there’s enough political blame to go around both sides of the aisle, though I generally agree with the video’s assertion that one the causes of the the flood of toxic paper was these poorly secured loans which turned around and bit their supposed beneficiaries. But here are several issues that it doesn’t address:

• Although there were a few warning voices about the poison spreading through the financial system (there were some journalists who kept hammering on it for years) why did the issue not force its way to the front and center of the political agenda sooner?
• Going forward, which candidate’s policies are more likely to lead to the resolution of the financial crisis?
• Will the choice of President even matter or is the political system doomed, like some automaton, to keep trying to buy off voters with one entitlement after the other no matter who wins thereby ensuring that overspending will always be with us?

Open thread. And while it may seem off-topic, from Enrevanche ^[3] we have the reminder that raindrops keep falling on our head. RIP Paul Newman.