Required Reading

"Who's Who" Discussion of Financial Crisis

Best read of the weekend: a roundtable called "The Crisis and How to Deal With It."

Participants are a "who's who" of finance and public policy: Bill Bradley, Niall Ferguson, Paul Krugman, Nouriel Roubini, and George Soros.

Warning: their (quite sober) analyses are not for the easily spooked or faint of heart. Here's an excerpt from Nouriel Roubini:

There are only a few ways of resolving a [huge national] debt problem: either you default on it as countries like Argentina did; you use the inflation tax to wipe out the real value of the debt; or you have to raise taxes and cut government spending.

As depressing as the mess, its causes, and likely solutions are . . it's encouraging that someone out there has got a handle on what to do about it.

Now, if only they were in charge . .