Then I spent most of my evening attempting to get up to speed on the financial crisis. In talking to my normally well-informed peers over the last week or so, none of us has much of an idea of what to think. Not surprising, since there are a lot of moving parts in both the problem and the potential solutions, some of which are contained inside black boxes. But I do feel like my evening of browsing gave me a better sense of things, so I share the following recommendations:
- First, be glad we aren't in as tight a spot as Iceland, which faces similar root problems but has much less room to maneuver. Also, who knew that the housing bubble in Britain was even bigger than the one here? (Not I, in any case.) That means they're facing big problems in the UK, too.
- You really should take the time to check out the widely-recommended This American Life piece from last May entitled The Giant Pool of Money, which brings their formidable storytelling skills to bear on the causes of the subprime mortgage crisis and why it has had such a broad impact. The follow-up on more recent developments, entitled (ahem) Another Frightening Show About the Economy, is also extremely helpful in clarifying what exactly we're talking about, and in scaring the bejeezus out of you.
- You should follow those up with this soothing Charlie Rose interview with Warren Buffet from last Wednesday. (In which he repeats his admirable demand that we increase his low tax rate.)
1 comment:
Dude, are you joking? There are so many english nerds who would love (and overrun) a metaphor site. In fact, I'd check to make sure one doesn't already exist.
As for the financial thing, I'm, um, trying to ignore it as much as possible, right now. Sort of like when you get a test back and you know it's a bad, bad grade, so you figure if you don't look for a while, it somehow will go away...
But, yeah, eventually, I'll have to listen to those to TAL episodes....
Alex
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