Banks and Housing in Crisis

London, Frankfurt, Paris, Brazil, Argentina – Iceland! And reaching into businesses from car showrooms to vacation planners.

But the tap root of this crisis still goes down to the American home and housing market, and the fancy finance that sent home prices and lending practices roaring off the map. Fixing that problem reaches deep into national policy and individual lives.

This hour, On Point: American housing and finance. What went wrong, and how to fix it.

You can join the conversation. What new rules should be in place? Should we make it more difficult to buy a home? Should we stop banks from playing with mortgage securities? Should we put up big firewalls on Wall Street to head off future disasters? Tell us what you think.Guests:

Joining us from London is Philip Coggan, global markets editor for The Economist. Its latest piece on the global financial turmoil is headlined "No end in sight."

Joining us from New York City is Dwight Jaffee, professor of banking, finance, and real estate at the University of California at Berkeley, and a visiting professor at New York University.

Susan Wachter, professor of finance and real estate at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.