My opinion is government played a BIG role in this economic mess.

#1 They went off the gold standard so our dollars are becoming more and more worthless
#2 There economic policy is one of big deficits & inflation
#3 The government "Regulators" are a joke - Rated Freddie & Fanny, and all the "Too Big To Fail" companies AA or AAA
#4 Are in favor of the federal reserve and low interest rates which provided the alcohol and all the wall street thugs got drunk on greed.
If you really want to understand, I'd suggest listening to Peter Schiff's radio show online.