What is a Financial Crisis?

Here are five good articles on "The Origins of the Financial Crisis" from The Economist. (Note - Each title is a bad pun)

1. Crash Course
2. Lending Weight
3. Controlling Interest
4. Sovereign Doubts
5. Calling to Accounts

And click here for some recommended readings on the Fiscal Crisis of 2008.

To begin to understand the Credit Crisis of 2008, you will need to understand the following terms

Prime Rate
Subprime Mortgages
CDOs
Tranches
Leverage
Derivatives

What Happened in 2008?

William Black is a former bank regulator who’s seen firsthand how banking systems can be used to commit fraud — and how “liar's loans” and other tricky tactics led to the 2008 US banking crisis that threatened the international economy. In this engaging talk, Black, now an academic, reveals the best way to rob a bank — from the inside.

Films about the 2008 Crisis

The Big Short

One of the clearest explanations for the 2008 crisis can be seen in "The Big Short"

Too Big to Fail

For a stunningly realistic account of what went on behind closed doors in Washington, view "Too Big to Fail"

Margin Call

For an excellent take on the meltdown of a fictitious bank in the 2008 crisis, "Margin Call" is highly recommendable. Warning: strong and realistic language.