The S&P 500 (^GSPC 1.02%) fell more than 50%. Citigroup (C 1.41%) went from being the world's premier megabank to being nearly bankrupt in a matter of months. Even General Electric (GE 0.68%) found itself in a money squeeze that could have threatened its existence.
And almost no one saw it coming.
It might be the single-most important question of the last five years: Why were so many people caught off guard by the 2008 financial crisis?
Until we try to answer that, we're at risk of being blindsided by another.
Last week, I asked PIMCO CEO Mohamed El-Erian why so many people missed the financial crisis. Here's what he had to say.
