Trying to find out the why of the credit crisis

Good article on the why of the banking crisis from the NYTimes here. In short: too much trust and too little verification. And guess who was heading one of the big investment firms asking the SEC for more latitude and less oversight? Current Secretary of the Tresury, Henry Paulson. That's the guy who wanted Congress to give him $700 billion to do with what he liked. Holy Cow...