Who Caused the Crisis

Vanity Fair here gives us those who ear the blame for our current debacle.

In alphabetical order.

1. Roman Abramovich.
2. Affluenza Virus.
3. After-Parties and V.I.P. Rooms.
4. Jacob “Jacob the Jeweler” Arabo.
5. Arbitrage.

6. Roland E. Arnall.
7. Edward Bellamy.
8. The “Big” Three American Automakers.
9. Osama bin Laden.
10. The BlackBerry.

11. Bloomberg Terminals.
12. Botox.
13. Bottle Service.
14. Leland C. Brendsel.
15. Mark Brickell.

16. George W. Bush’s Economic Policy.
17. George W. Bush’s Presidency.
18. Joe Cassano.
19. Jimmy Cayne.
20. The Celebrity-Industrial Complex.

21. Chav Culture.
22. Dick Cheney.
23. China.
24. Ralph Cioffi and Mathew Tannin.
25. Bill Clinton.

26. Collateralized Debt Obligations.
27. The Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000.
28. The Community Reinvestment Act.
29. Corporate Skyboxes.
30. Christopher Cox.

31. Jim Cramer.
32. Credit-Default Swaps.
33. Davos Man.
34. Darrel W. Dochow.
35. Chris Dodd.

36. William Donaldson.
37. Dubai.
38. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
39. Feeder Funds.
40. FICO Scores.

41. The Financial Press.
42. The Four Horsemen of the A.I.G. Apocalypse:
• Maurice “Hank” Greenberg.
• Martin Sullivan.
• Robert Willumstad.
• Edward Liddy.
43. Barney Frank.
44. The Friends of Angelo.
45. Richard S. Fuld Jr. and the Saga of Lehman Brothers.

46. Gordon Gekko.
47. Goldman Sachs.
48. Goody Bags at Charity Events.
49. Jamie Gorelick.
50. Phil Gramm.

51. Alan Greenspan.
52. Greenwich, Connecticut.
53. Ernest Hemingway.
54. Damien Hirst.
55. The Home Builders.

56. The Infantile American Consumer.
57. “I gotta guy.”
58. Infectious Greed.
59. The International Monetary Fund.
60. Kerry Killinger.

61. Lifestyle Porn.
62. Bernie Madoff.
63. Ruth Madoff.
64. The Rest of the Madoff Clan.
65. Blythe Masters, the Morgan Mafia, and the Exxon Valdez.

66. “Maximizing Shareholder Value.”
67. Miami and Las Vegas.
68. Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s, and Fitch: The Credit Rating Agencies.
69. Angelo Mozilo and Countrywide Financial.
70. Daniel Mudd.

71. Ralph Nader.
72. Ninja Loans.
73. The Office of Thrift Supervision.
74. Orange County, California.
75. Stanley O’Neal.

76. Our Nobel Laureate Economists.
77. Pay-Option Negative-Amortization Adjustable-Rate Mortgages.
78. Henry Paulson.
79. Nancy Pelosi.
80. Prosperity Theologists.

81. Quants.
82. Franklin Raines.
83. Lewis Ranieri.
84. The Repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act.
85. Retention Bonuses.

86. Daniel Sadek.
87. Herbert and Marion Sandler.
88. Stephen A. Schwarzman.
89. The Securities and Exchange Commission.
90. Sex and the City.

91. The Super Bowl.
92. Superstar C.E.O.’s.
93. The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997.
94. John Thain.
95. Linda Thomsen.

96. Tramp Stamps.
97. The United States Congress.
98. Viagra.
99. Mark Walsh.
100. Woodrow Wilson and the Captured Regulators.