This American Life: Another Frightening Show About the Economy

Back in May, This Amer­i­can Life (iTunes — Feed — Web Site) aired an episode called The Giant Pool of Mon­ey (stream here). The show, which demys­ti­fied the mort­gage cri­sis in an unsu­al way, became a major hit. Now, they have aired a sequel: Anoth­er Fright­en­ing Show About the Econ­o­my (stream here), and it explains the rip­ple effects of the orig­i­nal mort­gage cri­sis that have pushed the Amer­i­can finan­cial sys­tem to the brink. How did com­mer­cial paper freeze up, and why does this paper mat­ter? What exact­ly are cred­it default swaps, why was­n’t this mas­sive mar­ket reg­u­lat­ed, and how does this poor­ly under­stood mar­ket threat­en our eco­nom­ic well being? It’s all answered here. Give a lis­ten.

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