A chain reaction of political sense.

Here:

Most of the leaders of the countries with developed economies are guilty of a fundamental error. They have made their peoples the victim of a stillborn politically inspired economic policy. One could say that the political class lost sight of the “Invisible Hand.” Having lost their bearings, they succumbed to a temptation to which safely held power tends to fall victim. Briefly, they attempted to use political power to override the laws of the market. This makes out of the crisis a primarily political one.

We come to the second error we like to make. Its symptom is that we seek to put our mind at ease by suggesting that, the ongoing crisis is the malfunction of an economy that has lost its balance. Our problems began by politics distorting the realities of the US’ housing market through the granting of credit that gave purchasing power of unqualified buyers for their votes.

And you can't beat this gem of a variation on "chickens coming home to roost":

The thumping noise you hear comes from more skeletons wanting to exit the closet.

There're many other choice lines in this terrific piece by Mr. Handlery on the Western crisis.

I wonder what was the human experience that informed the myth of Icarus. He had perfected technique in a limited area but ignored or was ignorant of the melting point of wax.

I vote for "ignored" but who cares.

What ancient behavior in a time of tribes, sheep, primitive agriculture, and swords got distilled into that myth? Simple self interest, sloth, lust or greed that blinds men to murmuring slaves, rising waters, Agamemnonic returns, or unmanageable conquests?

All our calibrations, titrations, microprocessors, and spreadsheets turned out to be of no use when the desire to live off of others became a realistic possibility. That's true of welfare parasites and bottom feeders like the OWS crowd but also of the Goldman Sachs and Madoff types. A way was seen to open the spigots low and high and paid-off politicians made it all possible.

For a short while, anyway. While debt service wasn't too high and the economy somewhat strong.

(Louder and louder thumping sounds stage right.)

"Politics Fails To Override The Market." By George Handlery, Brussels Journal, 11/17/11.