People - and here I mean the average person, not the ultrawealthy - were conned into buying things they couldn't afford, not exotic investments. Assuming the ex

People - and here I mean the average person, not the ultrawealthy - were conned into buying things they couldn't afford, not exotic investments. Assuming the exotic investments you're talking about were the various derivatives markets propped up by bullshit, that was massive corporations making investments and taking on risk they didn't even understand. Unfortunately, the fallout impacted average people who weren't even directly involved.