This piece based on a congressional hearing attempts to explain one of the fundamental components that contributed to the current economic collapse--ratings agencies, who funds them, and the conflicts of interest that arise out of them. Issuer-funded agencies have the greatest conflict in that those underwriting service do so with expectations of favorable scores. This is similar to the same kind of ethical conflict of interest that arose with Enron when those associated with investment banking were giving the near bankrupt company strong buy ratings even as it announced in its death throes that it had overstated profits by $600 million. Because Enron, like many of its current counterparts, devised complex financial statements, accounting firms like Arthur Anderson were required to decode them; now ratings agencies do that--with the same type of moral and monetary conflicts. None of those agency practices have been deemed illegal as of yet, as in Enron's case. That company was undone by Bethany McClean, reporting then for Fortune, who asked a very basic question: “How exactly does Enron make its money?” The same question can be asked about Wall Street and the United States in general.