Not just Republicans and not just crazy! Over 90% of the entire population are sufficiently misled, confused and confounded that generating the necessary support for the needed changes is presently impossible. And intelligent discussion of that situation is confined to the fringe.

The most significant problem is that while economists like Krugman and DeLong, part of the mainstream and viable candidates for inclusion in the sample used by the Booth Economic Experts Panel, along with a majority of the panel, have policy recommendations that are obviously more sane, it is not possible politically to implement even these, such as larger stimulus and federal funding to support needed social functions such as education and public safety, while the steps necessary for a true solution remain off the table and out of the Overton Window.

The necessary solutions include breaking up the TBTF banks, vigorously prosecuting the fraudulent conduct in the financial sector that led to this debacle, shrinking the financial sector back to its size in 1960 while growing the manufacturing sector back to a significant portion of what it was at its peak by confronting the dark side of 'globalization', breaking the control of wealth over elections and putting in place tax policies that will bring wealth distribution back to 1960 levels. Presently even a majority of the electorate that would benefit from such a shift would likely not vote for candidates who advocate such changes. Changing that defines the scope of the problem.  

"It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."