Summary: Many common explanations for the economic crisis are wrong, stemming from prejudice rather than evidence. In reality, there are five key culprits that the G20 should focus on: (1) loose monetary policy; (2) hubristic social engineering in housing policy; (3) the failure of the Basel protocols on core capital; (4) banks that were ‘too big to fail’; and (5) the effects of oligopoly on auditors and ratings agencies.