Everything You Always Wanted to Know About the Economy but Were Too Dumb to Understand
Listen, here's what you need to do right now…
Go over to the This American Life website and download their newest episode "Another Frightening Show About the Economy." For the time being, it's a free download, but in a few days it'll skyrocket up to a whopping $0.95. Even if you don't have time to listen to it right now, just download it and save it for a less busy time.
Alex Blumberg and Adam Davidson explain — in the simplest, most elegant, most "Oh, I think I actually understand what these words mean" terms I've heard yet — just what exactly is going on with the economy these days and how we all got so jacked up the yazoo. (I, personally, was shocked to learn that it has nothing to do with djinnis or ancient intergalactic demon-gods. Who knew?)
Believe me, you will be smarter after listening to this episode. And — even better — you'll actually get to have some kind of idea about where you're supposed to be hurling your vitriol instead of just at random people on the street. (Although, I'm still pretty sure that one guy in the AC/DC t-shirt had something to do with all this.)
And, if you're really feeling curious, you can even go back to their archives and download "The Giant Pool of Money" from back in May and understand why you're all angry about the whole subprime mortgage debacle.
I'm certain they're getting tons of traffic for this episode already and their bandwidth is probably stretched thinner than Cindy McCain's facial skin, so — if you're feeling generous and not too bankrupty– you might want to consider helping them out a bit.
Or not. I'm just tossing the idea out there.
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All is well! Remain calm!
Yea! I get to talk about the stupid, fucking economy! And how I'd like to string Phil Gramm up by his goolies! Yea!
DJIA down over 670 points, losing over 7% of its value in a single day, and down to just under 8,600 points. I know, you're saying, "But Dave (hey, don't call me Butt Dave), the problem's in the credit market!" That's like saying the big earache I have right now doesn't matter because it's a virus that caused my cold. The earache matters.
I forget when the DJIA was last around 8,600 – 2003, maybe? Ok, now think about all those people who retired in the last 5 years (up until a year ago, say), who had their savings put into the market in various ways what with 401(k)s and whatnot. GOOD-BYE retirement. If you depended on the income from those accounts, well you just may be lining up right now to get that coveted WalMart greeter job.
Anyway, I could go on, but my energy is sapped from caring too much. As I've said before, Phil Gramm is your man if you're looking for someone to beat with a bamboo cane for all of this.
Oh, and I reiterate my shout out to John McCain. Put Country First: sell most of your assets and donate them to the US Treasury. You could still be a millionaire if you only owned 2 houses and 4 cars and just $1million in the bank, and you'd be a hero to America. How badly do you want this thing, huh? Gut check time.