The crisis that could have been avoided

You know, I was no star student back in Economics 101, but even I knew this much:

While there is no simple path out of this crisis, it was a crisis that could have been easily avoided. If the Federal Reserve Board had acted to stem the growth of the housing bubble before it grew to such dangerous proportions, the country would not currently be facing a recession and the prospect of a financial collapse.

It's from an article entitled "The Financial Meltdown Continues" by Dean Baker.