Good for the Register and Padilla, co-author of Chain of Blame, for staying on the mortgage madness and digging deeper.

in my view, the financial-services industry of the ’00s is more than just another failed business. It’s a collapsed civilization. Beneath the rubble are many layers. Journalists should think of this era as an archaeological dig. There are treasurers there.

Dean Starkman writes and edits The Audit. He is CJR's Kingsford Capital Fellow.