Dodd-Frank, the real culprit according to Robert Tracinski of TIA Daily

 In this article Tracinski blames the Dodd-Frank financial reform act for the uncertainty and confusion in financial quarters that has impeded and virtually stopped the flow of credit necessary for a real recovery to begin.  Tracinski offers no solutions to the implosion on Wall Street that led to our current dilemma but suggests that the Dodd-Frank bill is simply making things worse inasmuch as it blames the financial collapse on venal bankers and proposes bureaucratic means of controlling them in the future.  It is this expansion of the administrative state that democrats so love that keeps the recovery at bay since the rules and regulations required by the new law have yet to be written and agree upon by regulators.  Tracinski sees us as about half way through this process.  But even so once the process is completed, things are not likely to get any better because the rules (already in place in some cases) are so vague as to continue to lead to uncertainty and therefore inaction by the banks to begin extending credit more freely once again.  In Tracinski's view once again the political class has succeeded in shifting the blame for the crises to the private sector and is proceeding to make things worse by further restricting the financial industry from doing its job.  All in all this is a fairly lucid explanation of what's happening now without shedding much light on what would be effective to prevent another such crises in the future short of keeping the government from making things worse, as it always manages to do.