Anyone else confused by all the economic news? No? Well then I guess it’s just me.
Most of the news outlets I’ve seen and read don’t do an especially good job of explaining the situation, especially how we got here, and, more importantly, how all those supposedly smart people running the show are going to fix things.
As for the 24-hour (minus infomercials) talking heads channels, they’re all about staging fights between he-said on one side and she-said on the other.
Fortunately, there are a few places to go for actual information, ideas, and some sanity.
And one of them, of course, is the Daily Show.
Over the past couple of months, Jon Stewart and his writers have done an excellent job of pointing out just how badly the so-called experts have been screwing up.
A great example came from the first block of a DS show earlier this week in which he illustrated precisely why no one should be paying attention to anyone on the financial channel CNBC, especially Jim Cramer.
“I have to say, I find cheap populism oddly arousing.”
However, if you’re still looking for real information about this financial mess, you can find some in that wonderfully sane little corner of public radio known as This American Life.
The creators of The Giant Pool of Money and Another Frightening Show About the Economy, two outstanding and unfortunately still relevant TAL episodes from last year, are back to explain the banking crisis with The Bad Bank.
Grab the show today while it’s still free. Listen to the others online (or pay a buck each to download).
Three hours of your time (give or take an underwriting message) that offer more information about the current financial situation than you’ll find in an entire year of watching the “experts” on commercial television.
Great topic, great post, great links. A few months back I found myself in the same boat and eventually found a couple succinct explanations of mortgage bond ratings and short selling and what had happened. So much has happened since then that I’ll definitely have to check out all these things you’ve linked to get caught up on the core of the current situation.