A "must listen" on the mortgage crisis: "This American Life"

[TexasLawyer]

Here is a link to an important episode of "This American Life" which aired a few months back. The episode, called "The Giant Pool of Money," explains the mortgage crisis in an unbelievably insightful way. I got more from this than reading 50 Wall Street Journal articles on the same topic.

The episode is also highly entertaining and at times deeply poignant. You'll laugh... You'll cry!!!

The interviewees are people from all along the mortgage/ investment chain. You will definitely come away from listening to this with a better understanding of what went wrong with mortgage lending and who deserves to be blamed and/or bailed out. There are thieves and dupes all along the chain, even a few outright thieves among the home buyers (among the tragic victims).

Hit the "Full Episode" button, or invest the $.99 for a download-- totally worth it. The show is an hour long but it's time well spent.

Episode 355: The Giant Pool of Money

http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?sched=1242

[Supersedeas]

1. thanks for the link - k&r

[HamdenRice]

2. That's the single best piece of reporting on the entire crisis

Sadly, I predict your thread will sink, because that broadcast provided facts and insight into a sector that is little understood, even among financial journalists.

The single most important "fact" that the segment discusses is the $70 trillion pool of money. You can't understand the finance world unless you understand that their problems are the exact opposite of ours. Most of us are constantly at work on the question of: where do I get the money to do X?

Their problem is: how in the hell am I going to put this excess money to work? That's $70 trillion in global savings as desperate in looking for a place to be parked as most of us are in finding money.

But that report does not say, "I wish for a Great Depression so the fat cats will suffer and the people will become humble," nor "let it all collapse," nor "collapse is inevitable" nor any of the other ideas that predominate on these boards in the last few days.

[TexasLawyer]

3. Whaaaa! You're right

Sank like a rock.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

4. I heard it when it came out. It was fantastic. nt

[slipslidingaway]

5. Kick for later n/t

[greendog]

6. k&r

[Coventina]

7. k & r

:kick: