My assignment for this magazine story was simple: Explain how the recession started.

To tell the story, Illinois Issues combed through congressional testimony, position papers, media accounts and data from federal and business sources. What emerges is a common thread that explains how we got into this uncommon recession.

The story of the collapse takes many twists and turns, with fateful swings through Wall Street and Washington, D.C. Those are the places where the economy picked up steam, thanks to the political momentum, financial wizardry, insider deals, lax oversight and loose money they created. And that’s where most of the fingers are pointing now.

But the main reason for the recession is that too many people bought houses they couldn’t afford, and everybody was banking on those houses.

The whole Illinois Issues story is here.