Morals and the meltdown

It's easy, when grappling with questions like how mortage-backed securities actually work, to lose sight of the fact that Wall Street's current crisis has moral as well as financial implications.

So thank you, Joan Vennochi, for your column in today's Globe, which admirably captures that point. An excerpt:

The country's conservative moralists shake their finger at low-income home buyers who dared to make a grab for a humble piece of the American dream. When the dream turns nightmarish, the foreclosed-upon are held personally accountable for their bad debt.

But there's no personal accountability for those who actually understood the fine print behind those shaky loans, because they wrote it. No one tells them to hand back their bonuses. If they are eventually forced out, they walk out with huge paychecks.

Vennochi also has harsh words for John McCain, as well as some tough advice for Barack Obama. Be sure to take a look.