https://pjmedia.com/richardfernandez/2009/02/17/tin-foil-hats/feed/PJ Media is a leading news site covering culture, politics, faith, homeland security, and more. Our reporters and columnists provide original, in-depth analysis from a variety of perspectives.en-usWed, 10 Jun 2026 01:18:42 -0400<![CDATA[Although there is little reason to subscribe to conspiracy theories which suggest that the financial crisis was &#8220;manufactured&#8221; by partisan politicians and their financiers in order to win the 2008 election, two weaker narratives connecting politics and the financial crisis are a little more plausible.  One is holds that an economic system, already weak in the basics, may have been pushed over the edge by a financial play that got away in a kind of economic Chernobyl.  Most economists think that financial manipulation is unlikely to have brought down the economy to the extent that it fell. The second narrative holds that that whatever contributory effect political corruption had on the onset of the crisis, inappropriate linkages undoubtledly exist and should be eliminated on first principles. A series of stories have been detailing some of the dubious links between the evil bankers and our esteemed saviors.]]>Tue, 17 Feb 2009 19:34:01 -0500<![CDATA[Richard Fernandez]]>https://pjmedia.com/richard-fernandez/2009/02/17/tin-foil-hats-n187288