Financial Crisis 101

[Isolde]

If you you want to understand the big picture from someone outside the beltway, the following video series does an excellent job illustrating the policies and financial climate which lead to this current crisis.

Just a warning, for a self-proclaimed super genius, his presentation materials are found wanting.

It's a 5 part series, about 10 mins each. Here is part 1 of 5.

[youtube]gTr3aWqZsgc[/youtube]

 

[Paulie]

He makes good points, but he doesn't articulate himself very well. He rambles, mumbles, stumbles, goes back and forth, etc. He also speaks a little bit too fast for the average person to understand what he's trying to say.

And you're right about his presentation materials. It would be nice if the camera was closer to his page, or at least his writing was legible and large enough to read it.

I'd have liked him to explain more about what exactly Sarbanes-Oxley actually IS, too.

It's time for the laymen to start grasping this concept, because we need to be able to get past this desire to blame a side, or blame a person, what have you.

No one is free of blame. Not the borrowers, not the lenders, not congress, not the administration, and CERTAINLY not the Fed. Not even the people who WEREN'T irresponsible and are paying their mortgages. Everyone is at fault, because we as citizens have a responsibility to keep our government in check, and vote out the bastards who continually prove they are unworthy of representing America. We also have a responsibility to be informed and educated on how we manage our finances. We are seeing now that each and every person's financial management can affect the lives of everyone else.

We must learn that financial excess is not the proper way to live, and that living within your means is of the utmost importance. If you can't afford it NOW, you probably can't afford it later PLUS INTEREST.

 

[Isolde]

It does seem like a perfect storm created this mess, but at the very heart are the funky loans to people who couldn't afford to pay them back.

I have a pretty superficial understanding of SarBox, mainly from its application within an organization. From what I have seen, I think they need to cut the head off of that monster or risk losing US companies and jobs overseas.