http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/news...index.html
You have to scroll through several pages - otherwise I would have posted it all - but it's VERY SHORT - they use a diagram to explain the basic function of credit in the economic system and how it affects you and me.
It takes less than five minutes to read and is one of the best explanations out there of how the economy works -at least on a very rudimentary level.
Thanks for posting that, it was a good read. I also clicked on the sister link --
Your money, keeping it safe and got a little bit annoyed at how preachy it was, saying it's okay to feel fear but it's not okay to react.
Basically telling everyone to sit pretty and ride out the wave. Wasn't there that big mouth guy who hosts Mad Money (Jim Cramer) SCREAMING at people to hold onto Bear Stearns stock just days before it went belly up?
Yes, that guy. Some people just don't want to listen to the same financial adviser who got them into this mess.
I also somewhat disagree with the whole 'confidence' thing. I think it's like saying your marriage is on the rocks, there is cheating, abuse, your spouse gambled away your life savings and you lost the house... and you are supposed to remain CONFIDENT in the marriage. Nope. Sometimes you need to accept that things are over. Being confident in something that is failing is a fool's game. Sure, it's the only way if it's ever going to work, but if you don't believe it's going to work, there is no sense in remaining confident in it.
MHO of course.
We should use this thread for posting more links that explain the whole thing in layman's terms. I like sites like that. I'm sick of the complicated navel gazing.
Here's another basic, understandable CNN article, this one about the impact of the credit crisis on unemployment:
http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/01/news/eco.../index.htm
There was a guy on NPR today who said "Credit is like oxygen for our economy". My analogy was oil in an engine, but I like his even better.