Why did you write this story at this time?

The credit crisis is the greatest since the Great Depression. Even John McCain was in short pants when we last had a banking problem this serious, back in the 1930s. What I am interested in is: How did this start? How did we get into this mess? How did the financial system, after being praised for being so safe, turn out instead to be so precarious?

Was there anything in the reporting that surprised you?

Yes, a few things surprised me about the architects of credit derivatives. For one, almost all of them will survive the credit crisis. Demchak’s PNC Bank has been one of the best-performing banks this year. Masters’ J.P. Morgan has been a big winner. Most of the former J.P. Morgan folks whom I talked with didn’t blow up in this crisis—and many are running hedge funds now. There was a culture of prudence in the group that became ingrained.

Is there a lesson in this?

Yes, even when well-meaning, responsible people create a product that helps them, it can have disastrous and unintended consequences. It’s an old story, but one we need to tell over and over. That’s why markets need oversight.