By Barrett Sheridan, Michael Miller, George Georgiev and Kurt Soller
While most of the world watched the spectacular failures of storied investment banks, where traders sliced and repackaged mortgages into arcane financial products, the people on the other end of that equation, the homeowners, workers and taxpayers, faded into the background. No more—now the mess that Wall Street made is hitting homes with a vengeance. The nation is suffering enormous job losses—the worst since 1974, according to a recent Labor Department report. Food pantries are being emptied out, tent cities are sprouting up for the newly homless, and Americans are lashing out—with growing intensity—at corporate bonuses and bailout programs. A look at how the nation is coping with harsh new economic realities.
