Researchers called the rates a "national public health crisis."

It's been more than 10 years since the economics department at UMKC introduced its own currency. It's called the buckaroo, named in sync with the school mascot, the kangaroo.

However preordained the financial crisis was, it's remarkable how long its architects kept the game going. They managed to sustain the unsustainable for five years -- roughly from 2002 into late 2006.