I heard about Bill Clinton saying this at the DNC. I thought that this was very ironic of him to say this, as if it was Bush's fault, when it was actually mostly caused by what happend during the Clinton Admistration years. The Community Reinvestment Act being ramped up and the removal of the Glass-Spiegal Act are the real causes of our current bad economy. If the Republicans don't explain this clearly, out in the open, they will lose a big opportunity to gain ground.
The whole story of the various steps, laws, policies, banking practices, real estate practices and public responses that decribe why the world's economy collapsed into a balance sheet depression cannot be done in a few words.
Yes, the Clinton Administration owns a great big share of that history.
Every administration back to FDR owns some share of this depression.
But yes I do think you are right that failure to oversee activity in the derivatives market plays a HUGE role in this disaster.
There is no doubt in my mind about that.