This American Life did a GREAT job explaining the financial crisis today

[Frank Booth]

They explained the commercial paper problems and credit default swaps that led to this crisis better than anything else I've heard or read on the subject. I highly recommend listening to it if you want to know what's going on. It's reasonably objective too. They talk about the pros and cons of the bailout, as well as a key provision that was snuck in at the last minute.

Definitely worth a listen.

It looks like it's not up on their website yet, This American Life, but if you keep checking it should be up in the next day or so. I think the episodes are free to listen to when they first come out, and then 99 cents after that.

[bleever]

1. Recommended. It was a

really good overview of the topic, and apparently one of their highest rated shows ever.

[Cirque du So-What]

2. I heard part of it on the way back from canvassing

and I look forward to it being available on the website. Parts of it were jaw-clenchingly infuriating :grr:

[Pale Blue Dot]

3. The guy who's doing these reports is doing a podcast called "Planet Money".

You can download them from NPR's website.

I had a long car ride yesterday and I was listening to the episodes in order from the day they began on September 9th to the present. While Bloomberg is EXTREMELY knowledgeable, the podcasts act as a kind of precautionary tale: He would do a one on day in which he would soberly assess the events of the day and then state that one thing or another would be very unlikely to happen. That thing then happened the next day. He, like many others, does not question the basic assumption that capitalism and greed are the best economic system. That view, in my opinion, is creating a huge amount of cognitive dissonance in Bloomberg himself, on DU, and in the rest of the country.

Take a listen here: http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast/podcast_detail.php?siteId=94411890

[Frank Booth]

5. I don't think the point of their analysis is to advocate for capitalism over socialism or any

other sort of economic system. My understanding is that they are just trying to explain the problems that face our economy as presently structured. Which seems like a smart tack to take, because I don't see the US going socialist any time soon.

[Pale Blue Dot]

7. Have you listened to the podcast? nt

[LunaSea]

4. Subcribe to the free podcast

Downloads every episode into iTunes.

[intheflow]

6. Thanks!

I'd forgotten I could subscribe to their podcast. "This American Life" is one of a very few shows I would actually like to be able to listen to on a regular basis. :thmubsup: