If you want a pat answer to what has caused the financial crisis that is reverberating around the world, and now threatening the derivatives market, we’ve got one. Nearly everyone – in the mainstream media and outside it, tells the same story – that the crisis was caused by the unravelling of the housing market, particularly the US housing market. And if you ask what’s behind that, well, we’re told there was a bubble. And if you ask what was behind the bursting of the bubble, well…;it is turtles all the way down.
I’m going to suggest that if you peel off the layers of the financial crisis, we’re going to find some pretty basic things…