THE CREDIT CRISIS...WHAT THE...?

Since the writers strike I have had more time to pay attention to what all the experts are saying about the economy as I wait to get back to my job (as well as go through my piled up issues of Martha Stewart, and learning how to cut my own cuticles). I have watched many hours of CNBC and spent as much time online hearing the opinions of people a lot smarter than me give complicated explanations and totally opposite views on the outcome of it all. In the end I think I get the gist of it, at least enough to know how it is effecting me in the broad strokes so I can manage Eve's personal economy accordingly.

That's why I love articles like this from the New York Times:

Can’t Grasp Credit Crisis? Join the Club

By DAVID LEONHARDT

Published: March 19, 2008

Raise your hand if you don’t quite understand this whole financial crisis.

It has been going on for seven months now, and many people probably feel as if they should understand it. But they don’t, not really. The part about the housing crash seems simple enough. With banks whispering sweet encouragement, people bought homes they couldn’t afford, and now they are falling behind on their mortgages.

But the overwhelming majority of homeowners are doing just fine. So how is it that a mess concentrated in one part of the mortgage business — subprime loans — has frozen the credit markets, sent stock markets gyrating, caused the collapse of Bear Stearns, left the economy on the brink of the worst recession in a generation and forced the Federal Reserve to take its boldest action since the Depression?

I’m here to urge you not to feel sheepish. This may not be entirely comforting, but your confusion is shared by many people who are in the middle of the crisis.

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