Purpose ‐ The purpose of this paper is to analyze common emplotments of interpretations of the financial crisis of 2007-2010. Design/methodology/approach ‐ The paper presents a text analysis. Findings ‐ The paper finds that the same "strong
plots" are commonly used to explain financial crises to the general public. Originality/value ‐ The paper provides useful information on interpretations of financial crises.