But the crisis is fading from memory as credit write-downs and corporate defaults wither.
It does Paterno's memory no credit to say that it was wrong for him to be fired.
The inescapable truth is that young people today are less criminal, less violent, less dangerous than at any time in recent memory, and credit for that goes not to Sony, Apple or Microsoft, but to young people themselves.
"It just looks better in an era when memories of credit problems are quite fresh.
The public, with pragmatic views and short memories, will credit whoever then occupies the White House, regardless of past campaign statements, and acclaim him or her an economic genius.
The art of memory is credited to the ancient Greek poet Simonides, who was able to perfectly recall the scene in a banquet hall moments before the roof collapsed, simply by reviewing it in his mind's eye.
Indeed, it would leave in place the most liberal attorney general America has seen in recent memory.(Photo credit: AFP).
With the 70s floor-fillers a distant memory, tonight's credits roll to Paul McCartney's Maybe I'm Amazed, sung by an unidentified female vocalist.
In the White House meeting on Thursday, Mr. Obama said he "had a very fresh memory of relying on credit cards," and acknowledged that they were a flexible way to lend money to many people and to small businesses.
In response to one executive who was trying to make the case for less regulation, Mr. Obama told the executives to remember that they were "talking to a president who still has a very fresh memory of relying on credit cards" to finance his lifestyle.
