The Best Shows About The Economy I have Ever Heard

by Ouida on July 15, 2009

Several months ago, I heard about the 1-hour special from this American Life called “The Global Pool of Money” originally aired in May 2008.  This American Life did a follow up broadcast in October 2008 called “Another Frightening Show about the Economy”.  They have since done 2 more.  All of their shows can be listened to for free online or downloaded via iTunes to your ipod.  I follow the economy through Nouriel Roubini’s site RGEMonitor and RealClearMarkets.  “Global Pool of Money” and “Another Frightening Show About the Economy” both do an excellent job of explaining the macroeconomic circumstances that helped us land in this crisis and esoteric terms such as credit-default-swaps and mortgage-backed securities.  Listening to this you realize that there is plenty of blame to go around.  Yes, there were greedy bankers, greedy investors, and unscrupulous mortgage brokers, but there were also greedy consumers who knew they were not credit-worthy borrowers to begin with.  I am afraid that greedy bankers, just like the poor, will always be with us, but so will greedy consumers.  Because of this, I honestly feel that our long-term prospects for preserving wealth and avoiding another crisis are dim.

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