What is this "Crisis"?

To anyone who is watching the markets, it is obvious that our economy is in deep financial trouble. The immense amount of money pouring into the black hole of needed credit points to a crisis of unimaginable proportions that was long in the making....
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This is beyond mere greed. That so many could have acted with such careless abandon points to something much more serious than bad economics.

It points to a moral crisis. When men act without restraint in face of a threat to the common good, it means that the moral infrastructure of society is at risk. When the consuming passion for selfish gain becomes the dominant set of values in society, it means duty, responsibility and honor no longer resonate in society....

When people flee from responsibility in their personal lives, is it any wonder debt accumulates so rapidly? When people spend what they do not have and receive what they cannot pay for in their personal lives, should we be surprised when we see this transferred into the world of high finance? Isn’t all this a sign that something is terribly wrong with our moral bearings? One can only ask what other surprises lay ahead.

Thus, although it may seem unrelated, this carefree mentality highlights why the moral issues that divide the nation have such great importance. These are the issues that deal with another kind of capital: our moral capital....

It is the next great capital crisis – a moral capital crisis -- that is to be feared.

If this moral capital is lost, there is no amount of regulation that can restrain the consuming passion of the players. There are not enough rescue dollars to plug the holes of all the other crises that will follow.

Source: The American TFP - the entire article here.