Simon Johnson (here's his blog, baseline scenario) is an expert on financial crisis around the world.

In the May 2009 issue of The Atlantic Online Johnson argues that the U.S. economic recovery will fail unless the "financial oligarchy", responsible for the crisis in the first place, now using its influence to block necessary reform, is broken. The government, captured by the finance industry, seemingly "helpless, or unwilling, to act against them", is, according to Johnson, running out of time needed to prevent a true depression.

The article is called "The Quiet Coup". Here's it's summary:

The crash has laid bare many unpleasant truths about the United States. One of the most alarming, says a former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, is that the finance industry has effectively captured our government—a state of affairs that more typically describes emerging markets, and is at the center of many emerging-market crises. If the IMF’s staff could speak freely about the U.S., it would tell us what it tells all countries in this situation: recovery will fail unless we break the financial oligarchy that is blocking essential reform. And if we are to prevent a true depression, we’re running out of time.

Simon Johnson recently spoke at a convention of economists and gave this 8 minute presentation - well worth watching if you care about America's economic future.

Simon Johnson on the Doom Cycle (MMBM) from Roosevelt Institute on Vimeo.