Trust

It is now abundantly clear that the global economy remains mired in a dismal slump. Consumer confidence is still hurting; the unemployment is still rising; home prices are still falling. Despite the best efforts of Congress and the Treasury Department, nobody knows where the bottom is, or when it will arrive.

Obviously, there are no easy solutions. But it's worth considering how we got here if only to better understand how we might get out. One way to look at the current mess is as a collective