The phenomenon of structured finance or what is popularly known as securitization played an important role in the current financial crisis. The following two papers serve as a good guide to this aspect of finance and its implications.
Coval, Joshua, Jakub Jurek, and Erik Stafford. 2009. “The Economics of Structured Finance.” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 23(1): 3–25.
Adam B. Ashcraft and Til Schuermann, “Understanding the Securitization of Subprime Mortgage Credit,” Foundations and Trends in Finance 2, no. 3 (July 2008): 191-309.
Musings of the Sorts 