Feeling Freaked Out?

Economically things look pretty bad right now. Add on top of that the beloved Yankees not making the post-season in 17- something years and a series of charley horses in my upper back and calves throughout the night and I'm feeling a little frazzled. I don't know about you but it makes me feel better to try and understand the things that stress me out so I ate a banana, ranted about the Yankees spending too much money on over the hill talent that ruins whatever chemistry the team has built, and sat down to try and find some good sources of information about the economic melt down.

We're at a point in the meltdown where politics and blame have tinged the experts opinion but, like in academics, once you acknowledge the bias, you can get some good information. I have two sources that I found to be helpful. The first is an article from slate.com about the idea that giving mortgages to poor people and people of color is to blame for this mess. Specifically, people point to the Community Redevelopment Act. You can take the findings of the article for what they are but the article gives some good history of the CRA and its place in this mess.

Link to Slate article on CRA

The second is another installment of This American Life. They have done a second, hour-long piece on the problem. This goes into much more depth about the problem, specifically the commercial paper market and the credit swap deals. I had no idea what those meant either but my ignorance was quickly remedied.
This American Life Episode