Unlike the stock market crash of 20 years ago, the drama of the US financial crisis of 2008 lasted for weeks, not days, and the brooding stress and compounded uncertainty of each passing day took months to dissipate.
For much of September and October, fear and anticipation drove Wall Street and Washington, with one eyeing the other in a one-of-a-kind symbiotic exercise between commerce and government.
Though it's too soon to describe the crisis as a distant memory, a year — and a very long one at that — as passed.