Contents: 1. Introduction and summary -- Part I: the unraveling of the 1930s-era framework -- 2. The Euro market erodes US financial structure -- 3. Commercial paper guarantees and the emergence of a parallel banking system -- 4. ERISA moves savings into securities markets -- Part II:...

In the summer of 2007, the subprime empire that Wall Street had built all came crashing down. Banks like Countrywide and non-banks such as New Century Financial--all financed by Bear Stearns, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers and others--were in danger of closing, or actually...