The session with the "experts" is over. It is not entirely clear if the Commission learned anything new, especially considering the disparate views held by each of the panelists. In a telling series of answers, one member asked each of the panelists to rank the causes of the financial crisis. Two said over the counter derivatives were far down the list, two said they were high up. The two who thought derivatives had a negligible effect believed, respectively, that U.S. effort to expand homeownership and "risk-shifting" were the primary causes. Maybe this is the nature of an economic discussion–it is particularly susceptible to Monday Morning Quarterbacking.

Commission members seem to have only looked for testimony to entrench their views. No one seems to have been convinced of anything.

The hearing will reconvene at 12:25.