In the linked article Robert Reich (former labor secretary and professor of public policy at the UC Berkeley) makes a compelling case that, while Wall Street shenanigans were the proximate cause of the great recession, the ultimate or underlying cause was and is the gross inequality of wealth that has developed over the last 30 years.
http://www.thenation.com/article/36893/unjust-spoils?page=full
http://www.thenation.com/article/36893/unjust-spoils?page=full
