Atlantic Monthly has a great piece on how the subprime mortgate market crash has affected the U.S. demographically. Here is a teaser:

At first, the subprime crisis stung two groups in particular—people of modest means who’d gotten in over their heads, and a wealthier crowd, people working at hedge funds and investment houses, who’d trafficked in the first group’s debt, fueling the market for exotic, unstable loans. One might find a measure of rough justice in the travails of the latter group (45 residences in Greenwich, Connecticut, home to many hedge-fund operators and investment bankers, were in foreclosure in the third quarter of 2007). But the ripples from the subprime crisis are now beginning to affect nearly everyone. A cooler housing market chills construction, consumer confidence, retail sales, and all the rest.