Hanging Chads and Financial Crises

Unfortunately, what Paul Krugman wrote today is probably true:

What would have happened if hanging chads and the Supreme Court hadn’t
denied Al Gore the White House in 2000? Many things would clearly have been
different over the next eight years.

But one thing would probably have been the same: There would have been
a huge housing bubble and a financial crisis when the bubble burst. And if
Democrats had been in power when the bad news arrived, they would have taken the blame, even though things would surely have been as bad or worse under
Republican rule.