http://arnoldkling.com/econ/book/JFintro.pdf
Thanks to Arnold Kling, Jeffrey Friedman's introduction to the most recent Critical Review, "A CRISIS OF POLITICS, NOT ECONOMICS: COMPLEXITY, IGNORANCE, AND POLICY FAILURE" is online. It continues in a similar theme to his critique of bureaucracy and democracy. If you're interested in an analysis that isn't the same 3 hacks going over inflation (which is not to say that inflation isn't a big part of it), give it a read. If you have money to burn, Critical Review magazine is perty awesome.
Abstract:

Quote:

The financial crisis was caused by the complex, constantly growing web of regulations designed to constrain and redirect modern capitalism. This complexity made investors, bankers, and perhaps regulators themselves ignorant of regulations previously promulgated across decades and in different “fields” of regulation. These regulations interacted with each other to foster the issuance and securitization of subprime mortgages; their rating as AA or AAA; and their concentration on the balance sheets (and off the balance sheets) of many commercial and investment banks. As a practical matter, it was impossible to predict the disastrous outcome of these interacting regulations. This fact calls into question the feasibility of the century-old attempt to create a hybrid capitalism in which regulations are supposed to remedy economic problems as they arise.