5 Disastrous Decisions That Got Us into This Economic Mess | Corporate Accountability and WorkPlace | AlterNet

Here's the 1-minute version:

1) Paul Volcker out, Alan Greenspan in: Clear-headed control versus laissez-faire "whatever goes," confusing "hands off" with "autopilot."

2) Deregulation under Glass-Steagall: Commercial banks could hand out high-risk "liar loans" and investment banks could "lower" their reserve ratos from 12:1 to 30:1 or higher. Oh, and they could work together again, same as in the 1920s...

3) The Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003: Rewarded speculation (gambling) more than wage earning and leveraging (interest was tax-deductible) over savings. Didn't stimulate the economy, but pumped the housing and stock bubbles sky-high.

4) Faking numbers for incentives: Pay-for-performance became pay-for-numbers, with reports distorted to pump up shares and bonuses. Here's a related study.

5) Bandages instead of surgery: When the bubble burst, efforts focused on a "black box bailout," with no real plan or oversight, then continued with specific rescues rather than attacking foreclosures (from excessive borrowing), and then the two underlying problems: flawed incentive structures and inadequate regulatory systems.