Former California Treasurer Angelides to lead financial crisis panel

Crusading former California State Treasurer Phil Angelides and curmudgeonly retired lawmaker Bill Thomas will lead a commission charged with shining a light on the causes of the financial crisis, Democratic and Republican congressional leaders announced today.

The ten-member Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, created in May, is reminiscent of the Depression-era Pecora Commission, a panel created to probe the causes of the 1929 Wall Street crash. After a rocky and unproductive start, it paved the way for the creation of the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as other reforms.