The Giant Pool of Money
Painting by Jean Michel Basquiat
One of my superstar students pointed me to a special broadcast on This American Life about the housing crisis. Ira Glass and team explain it all to you: What the housing crisis has to do with the collapse of the investment bank Bear Stearns, why banks made half-million dollar loans to people without jobs or income and why everyone is talking so much about the 1930s. It all comes back to what Glass refers to as the Giant Pool of Money. The show is amazing and I highly recommend listening and then putting whatever money you might have securely under your mattress.
posted by debbie millman at 5/12/2008 11:08:00 PM
5 Comments:
Putting money under the mattress is absolutely what people should not do. In order to keep the economy moving--to avoid entropy--money must be spent. This is the lifeblood of any economy, for if items are not being purchased, then there would be a surplus and no need for anything to be manufactured or farmed. Fear is the greatest destroyer of any economy, for fear is linked to repression and repression, as we all know, is a holding back due to fear--which is the equivalent of shoving money under the mattress. Any economist worth their salt will tell you the same (in far more elucidating and erudite terms). Spend, people, spend!
I agree, Ira Glass and This America Life are godsends. Every week I either laugh, cry, or just walk around with my mouth wide open, aghast. Sometimes all three.
As for the money woes, I'm afraid I don't have an explanation. It gets so abstract so quickly that most folks only understand the statement that comes at the end of the month. One downside to rate cuts that I can testify to is that savings accounts bear less and less interest, which stinks for a freelancer trying to hoard money for those long winter months.
thought this episode was interesting and not just because Ira was extremely horse. TAL usually covers somewhat obscure stories and makes them matter on a broader scale through connections that listeners can relate to...this one was about a broader thing and deconstructing it.
Right, I don't know enough about finance and economics (they're probably the same thing, right? Like saying "chai" and "tea.")
Anyway, I clicked on this post to see the Basquiat (I don't get images on my RSS reader) ...I'm a huge fan of his work.
Well, I'm off to spend... I guess...
L.
Wow -- that podcast is probably one of the simplest explanations I've come across that ties home values and lax lending standards together.
Well worth listening to!
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