Reporters of the Wall Street Journal have produced a three-part video series on the crisis on the Street, looking at “What happened”, “Why it happened” and “What happens next”.

This is an excellent overview of the financial malaise.

Chapter one: What happened
How the housing bubble inflated and burst, and why easy money led to the collapse of Wall Street’s biggest financial institutions.

Chapter 2: Why it happened
What was going through the minds of CEOs, corporate boards, fund managers and mortgage lenders as they created hard-to-understand derivatives Warren Buffett once called “weapons of financial mass destruction”.

Chapter 3: What happens next
This final chapter tells the story of the $700 billion bailout and looks at what’s ahead for the global economy.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, July 22, 23 and 24, 2009 (hat tip: The Big Picture).

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