Feeling Clueless?

One thing I've noticed virtually everywhere in my internet overexposure this last week or two is that even smart, well-informed people are at something of a loss when it comes to the "bailout" and the other financial crisis issues. People don't fully understand the problem and its sources so it becomes difficult to support a particular solution (or lack thereof).

So what's a girl to do? Educate yourself, of course, as any self-respecting feminist would. One excellent source of information I've found has come via my iPod. I've been downloading the new NPR podcast Planet Money. Yesterday I learned that the crisis has very real effects on small and large corporations who borrow money on a daily basis in a very different system than those of us with loans or credit cards. And as soon as it finishes downloading, I plan to listen to the post-failed-vote episode.

The show is available on iTunes, but you can also keep up with even more info at their website. Yesterday, the day of the vote, there were 11 blog posts. And today it's not even 10:30 eastern and there are three more posts up. If you're a This American Life listener, this show is a spinoff from their recent episode on The Giant Pool of Money which explained the mortgage crisis more thoroughly and clearly than anything else I've found. (They have another episode coming up this week called, appropriately, Another Frightening Show About the Economy. I'll be listening.