While the world's attention was riveted on the spectacle of Wall Street leaders like Lloyd Blankfein and Jamie Dimon dodging questions about why exactly they didn't bother to tell investors about the many risks attached to the mortgage-backed securities and derivatives they sold, the congressional Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission also swore in some witnesses who had plenty to share about how the crisis came to be. I'll save you two hours and give you the Twitter-sized answer: Predatory lending and mortgage fraud, coupled with the federal government's interference with local law enforcement that allowed both to thrive.
