Editor’s note: Hearing echoes of 2008

From the September issue: This month marks the seventh anniversary of 2008’s Wall Street meltdown, and of the dramatic days that saw the global financial system teetering on the brink.

Those were nerve-wracking times — I remember discussing with a friend what we would do if there were widespread bank runs and ATMs suddenly stopped dispensing money.

That apocalypse didn’t happen, thanks to effective intervention by the federal government (an accomplishment that’s hard to dispute whatever your politics). But it led to widespread declines in the real estate market and the Great Recession. And it left a lingering specter of how bad things could get. [more]