It is in crises that leaders are tested, that we get to see if they succumb to their worst instincts or summon their better angels.
The financial crisis makes it especially imperative that we get our priorities right.
Representative Frank told me that in Minneapolis recently, where he held a hearing on the subprime crisis, one couple told him that "we got evicted so we bought a house".
A decade after that we got the crisis that would have swallowed Gorman's bank, Morgan Stanley, if not for $100 billion in Fed loans, $10 billion in bailout cash and a $9 billion lifeline from Mitsubishi UFJ Financial.
We want to avoid a proliferation of crises that could get out of control".
And the crises that do get media attention are not necessarily those that kill or harm the most victims".
While immediate tragedies garnered global media attention during the past year, the HAR report highlights crises that have gotten inadequate attention.
I wouldn't be surprised, I must say, if those little letters to the editor of the New York Times weren't indicative of a huge bipartisan urge to get away from all that, because I think people believe the country's if not in trouble then in crisis, that we've got a lot of big decisions to make about where we're going.
"It's kind of a secret crisis that we've got to do much better at even acknowledging, much less doing something about it," Nixon, who is currently directing a gay-themed, Off-Broadway play, "Steve," said.
These past few weeks have demonstrated that Europe has a deeply flawed banking system, a widening competitiveness gap, and a debt crisis that cannot get much better if the economy gets worse.
