As for Xeno's claim that what is happening has no connection whatsoever to the policies of Ronald Reagan, the current credit crunch is just the latest in a long series of mostly conservative policies that have proven mostly disastrous for all but the wealthy -- and even some of them.

Reagan started the repeal of the usury laws, which in turn have had the effect of encouraging lenders to lend at high interest rates to high-risk debtors, encouraging ever increasing levels of unsupported consumer debt. He began the trend that has led to the wholesale repeal of various corporate regulations, which in turn have had the effect of ever increasing corporate corruption (e.g., Savings and Loans, Enron, dot.com tech stock manipulations, aka 'irrational exuberance', etc.) and ever decreasing corporate accountability. He began a systematic assault on labor unions, which in turn has had the effect of reducing the bargaining position of many American workers in an economic environment increasingly unfriendly to the average American worker. His administration began the privatization of the military, putting more and more taxpayers' money into the hands of corporate contractors with less and less government oversight. He began the right's flirtation with theocracy, ergo, cronyism and guaranteed government incompetence. He implemented huge tax cuts for corporations and the wealthiest when more investment in our country's failing infrastructure was what was was truly needed and would likely have benefited everyone in the long run, including the richest of the rich. His policies, and those that have followed, have funneled (er, "trickled down") a lot of American investors' wealth into Asia and much of the rest of the world, creating lots of jobs and industry for them, but not so many jobs or industry for American workers, who now have to increasingly compete against such workers, many living under brutal dictatorial regimes, and many of whom have never successfully fought for, nor have ever won the rights and benefits American workers have (or once did).

And most of that, while having not much of anything direct to do with the current credit crunch, certainly did set many of the current balls in motion, and that in turn very likely will have an impact on how hard we all fall, how much it hurts, and on the speed and robostness of our recovery.

So, yeah, Xeno is right. No connection whatsoever. Unless you are inclined to look at the big picture.