CRISIS FOR ALL, OPPORTUNITY FOR SOME IN THE SUMMER and fall of 2008, the world economy hovered on the brink of catastrophe. A combination of too much bad debt and a burst housing market bubble threatened to push the American economy over the edge, with much of the rest of the world likely to follow. In Washington, D.C., dramatic and historic decisions involving trillions of dollars were made in rapid succession in an effort to contain the crisis. The Permanent Political Class played a central role in the drama as the government broke precedent after precedent. For members of Congress, the crisis meant momentous votes, long hours in closed-door meetings, and countless phone calls with federal officials. It also meant regular private consultations on both budgetary and monetary decisions. It meant private conversations with Wall Street and banking executives. It meant emergency measures, including authorizing the spending of $700 billion in taxpayer money in an attempt to create liquidity in financial markets—the Troubled Asset Relief Program, a.k.a.
