Mark, don’t confuse cause and effect. The federal government opened the door of “opportunity” and the banks walked through it. That doesn’t excuse the banks for what they did, but they were responding to incentives that the federal government provided.

The federal government pressured banks to lend money to unqualified homebuyers. The federal government backed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which bought up those home loans, making them essentially risk-free for the original lenders.

The Federal Reserve made money readily available. (On these pages, there has been some dispute about that, but the disagreement reflects the time period under discussion; I don’t think there is any doubt that from 2002 to 2004, under Greenspan, the Federal Reserve increased the money supply, and some would say to an extreme degree.)

The Center for Public Integrity is taking a selective look backward to see who offered subprime mortgages and whether they were the same companies that accepted TARP funds. That's almost tautological.

You will recall that Henry Paulson brought the leading banks into his office and told them that they had to accept funds from the federal government before they could leave the room.

I welcome any improvements on this chronology.