It's downright amazing to me how many people out there are so blissfully ignorant or naive regarding what is going in the financial markets right now. Granted, I might be a bit biases since my background is in finance, and I work at a bank, but people can't seem to take the time to understand what is going on, and base their opinion of things like the bailout bill and various other economic events on media or political soundbites. These soundbites are often stated by individuals just as ignorant or naive about the issues.
I don't, by any means, claim to be an expert regarding the situation that is occurring. I do truly believe that there are few people in this country that fully understand what is going on and the impacts it is having. There may not even be anybody, when it comes down to it. But still, part of the reason we are getting into these messes is that they are too complex for any reasonable person to comprehend.
Anyone looking to start with a primer on what's going on in simple layman's terms ought to listen to this episode of This American Life. It's from last April when the collapse was starting to really hit hard. Another thing to watch is this interview with Warren Buffet from earlier this week. I'm also about 40 pages into the new biography, The Snowball, about Warren Buffet. It's a great read so far, and I reccomend it.
If people just took a fraction out of their day to educate themselves about what is truly going on, it might help to quell the fear, panic, and loathing that the mainstream media is blathering all over the print and airwaves.
