If we didn’t already understand that the current financial crisis is not just a Wall Street thing, the rapid demise of Washington Mutual Inc. brings it disturbingly close to home.

Not that long ago, Seattle-based WaMu was a darling of the financial world, a fast-growing institution that gobbled up other banks from coast to coast. It wasn’t the company’s expansion that brought down WaMu, but rather its aggressive immersion in the so-called subprime loan market.

Call it greed or bad management, either way the result is the loss of a substantial Northwest company along with many of the jobs and prestige that go with it. The loss will likely be felt in our communities that have WaMu branches and employees, who now face daunting uncertainty in uncertain times.

Consolidation of such corporate giants typically results in fewer choices for consumers and makes it less likely that competition will keep the marketplace responsive.

WaMu has been described as an institution that was too big to be allowed to fail. That’s no solace to the thousands of people who had no role in the company’s decline but will be hurt by it nonetheless.

• Editorials reflect the consensus opinion of the editorial board and are written by its members: Publisher L. Stedem Wood, Editor Don Nelson and City Editor Dick Clever.