During the insane housing boom, a frequent talking point I had with friends was: “Something has to go wrong.”

Ever increasing house prices could not continue forever. It was obvious to everyone.

I was certainly surprised to learn — after the subprime mortgage crisis crash — that U.S. banks were giving half million dollar loans to N.I.N.A. folks like me. No income, No Assets.

Where were the regulators?

I’d never understood the process by which everyone in the chain held their nose and signed off on all those bad loans until I heard an audiocast on National Public Radio.

A special program about the housing crisis produced in a special collaboration with NPR news. We explain it all to you. What does the housing crisis have to do with the turmoil on Wall street? Why did banks make half-million dollar loans to people without jobs or income?

… to tell the story – the surprisingly entertaining story – of how the US got itself into a housing crisis. They talk to people who were actually working in the housing, banking, finance and mortgage industries, about what they thought during the boom times, and why the bust happened.

This American Life – The Giant Pool of Money