Now in large print - easier to read for students and adults. The current state of affairs has been called a "financial tsunami," a "financial ice age," and "the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression." Our first question needs to be, "Is it?" Our next question might be, "How did we get here?" As someone who enjoys the study of both history and economics, I see these questions as both important and interlinked I put this brief annotated time-line together initially for my own study, and to share with my students. I soon found that many others around me were asking similar questions and looking for the same information. This book was researched and written initially during the fall of 2008, as the current crisis first came to our attention. It was updated again in December 2009. It is written by a fiscal conservative, and it is intentionally kept brief.