extended interviews that really elaborate on and clarify the whole milieu

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/money-power-wall-street/

All four hours are accessible from the above on line source.

I am an accountant and know a bit about finance. This was done so that lay people could easily follow while making it interesting to people who know a bit of finance and or accounting going in...

It explained to me how the bankers got to run the Obama money/bailout policy. At that time, I was in favor of nationalizing the banks and revoking their charters.

Summers and Geitner, the tip of the spear of the oligarchy, to craft a weak metaphor

I will definitely watch that later today.

BTW I don't mind wonkish I'm currently in school going into my third year studying accounting, business admin and finance

is the only one I've seen. A-ma-zing.
I thought the crash was pretty much over my head.
Not so. INSIDE JOB made this blind man see.
The guy who questioned/interviewed the culprits
(those who dared appear on film)
was like Zorro cutting up cheese. Masterful.
I couldn't recommend this doc any more highly,
especially if you believe you have no aptitude
for understanding finance/stocks/derivatives/
govt-corporate connections, etc.
Although you may feel nauseated afterwards at
the depth of the shameless evil deregulated corruption
that led to the crash and the fact that the same rotten
scum are still running the whole monstrosity.

The movie explains why the collapse happens and shows the conflicts of interest that took place (and still are to some degree) in the financial sector and government.

I downloaded the movie and subs and showed it to my Chinese students so I've seen it a few times.

I forgot I had seen that already! It was a long time ago, CBC had it on as soon as it came out. I watched it twice. Very, very eye opening, definitely a must see for everyone!

about the crisis - there are others...

Frederick Douglass "The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass"
Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi "The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Parents are Going Broke"
Gary Rivlin "Broke, USA: From Pawnshops to Poverty, Inc."
Nomi Prins "It Takes a Pillage"
Barry Ritholtz - "Bailout Nation"
Yves Smith - "Econned"
Dr. Bill Black - "The Best Way to Rob a Bank Is to Own One"

All of these will help broaden your understanding of why we are here, and many of the authors have more explanatory postings on the net.

That's a very comprehensive list Copying and pasting to my book list

give you some timelines and identify key players (hint:most of those have a LOT of money), and the references are nice to have at hand.

btw, that Frederick Douglass book is free for the Kindle PC program on Amazon. Interesting part about how he learned to read, and how that gave him the way to talk about, and change, his slavery.

Seems there are a lot of people today who need to learn to read all over again.