I want to point out two hours of required listening.
This American Life has produced two wonderful programs in the last year that bring needed clarity to our the economic mess we find ourselves in.
The first piece was broadcast last May. The program was called The Giant Pool of Money. Alex Blumberg and Adam Davidson walk through the players in the mortgage business and illuminate how the house of cards was built and crumbled.
The second program was broadcast just a few weeks ago. Bad Bank describes the other piece to the economic crisis: why banks are in so much trouble. Alex and Adam return again for this episode and again describe the situation in terms that are easy to understand.
I cannot recommend these enough. I have an bachelor’s in mechanical engineering and an MBA, but those aren’t enough to get a handle on all of this. This incredible pieces of journalism were.
Go listen to them.
They are also available at iTunes for 95 cents:
Giant Pool of Money: LINK
Bad Bank: LINK
PS The Crisis of Credit Visualized goes nicely with Giant Pool of Money. YouTube has it in two parts.