In 1977, Lewis Ranieri came up with a new financial tool called mortgage-backed securities (MBS). This meant that banks could group a lot of home loans together and sell them to investors. The idea was to boost the housing market and make it easier for banks to get cash. For many years, people thought these investments were safe because it was believed that everyone would pay their mortgages.

However, banks began giving risky loans to people with poor credit—known as subprime borrowers—luring them in with low initial interest rates. These loans were then bundled into MBS and sold off. When housing prices dropped, many borrowers couldn’t keep up with their payments, leading to huge losses for banks and investors. This disaster is known as the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis.

As delegates of this special committee, your task is to come up with plans to stabilize the economy and regain public trust. You’ll represent various groups, from government officials to business leaders, each with different perspectives and goals. Your decisions are important—will you allow failing banks to collapse, introduce new regulations, or offer support to save key companies? The choices you make will help shape the future of the economy, and it’s up to you to lead the way forward for the financial system and the millions affected by this crisis.