Brad Bonham

I enjoyed Fred Thompson on Law and Order and feared him when he was on the campaign trail: “Hey, y’all, I’m Ronald Reagan, but meaner and more stoic!”. Now he’s back with a brilliant, droll commentary on the economy:

This is the sort’ve common sense Ross Perot brought to the state of the union in 92 (as well as Ron Paul in 2007 before anyone was talking about the economy). It makes you wonder how someone can be so different (some would say insane) while campaigning but become so reasonable when outside of the political sphere.

Also, now that there’s (about to be) a Democrat in office, Jon Stewart asks, “Who will be the administration’s mouthpiece, and what will Fox News do?”:

And, finally (via Kottke), Roger Ebert rails against the media’s celebrity worship.

The AP, long considered obligatory to the task of running a North American newspaper, has been hit with some cancellations lately, and no doubt has been informed what its customers want: Affairs, divorces, addiction, disease, success, failure, death watches, tirades, arrests, hissy fits, scandals, who has been “seen with” somebody, who has been “spotted with” somebody, and “top ten” lists of the above. (Celebs “seen with” desire to be seen, celebs “spotted with” do not desire to be seen.)

The CelebCult virus is eating our culture alive, and newspapers voluntarily expose themselves to it. It teaches shabby values to young people, festers unwholesome curiosity, violates privacy, and is indifferent to meaningful achievement. One of the TV celeb shows has announced it will cover the Obama family as “a Hollywood story.” I want to smash something against a wall.

We all know times are tough. Weird Al Yankovic assures us, though, that even in the worst of times, there’s room for love:

Understanding the Wall-Street and global economic meltdown is within the thinking capacity of almost every human being, but it helps to have a great teacher. Paddy Hirsch, senior editor of Marketplace, does the best job of explaining the arcane financial instruments wreaking havoc in the global markets. There are more fundamental problems at work, but he gives an excellent overview of the really tricky aspects that are driving the titanic’s plunge right now.

If you’re curious about how Lehman Brothers, AIG, and other big insurance and investment firms have failed, you could do worse than listening to Mr. Hirsch. If you only have time for a few videos, I recommend watching the pieces on Collateralized Debt Obligations and Credit Default Swaps and the excellent 60 Minute specials linked below as well. All the videos will make your knowledge quite formidable and probably help you lose sleep.

If you want to dig really deep into the fundamentals, Chris Martenson’s Crash Course is the best material you will find.  I’m trying to keep the resources mentioned here relegated to the more politically neutral, as issues surrounding economics and energy can be very politically divisive, however, you’ll see some editorializing from commentators here and there. Use your own brain to make judgments though!

Understanding Collateralized Debt Obligations

Crisis explainer: Uncorking CDOs from Marketplace on Vimeo.

Understanding Credit Default Swaps

Untangling credit default swaps from Marketplace on Vimeo.

The Credit Crisis as Antarctic Expedition

The credit crisis as Antarctic expedition from Marketplace on Vimeo.

Understanding Naked Short Selling

Getting naked in short selling from Marketplace on Vimeo.

Understanding the Exchange Market versus the Over the Counter Market

Over-the-counter, over the top from Marketplace on Vimeo.

Excellent 60 Minutes specials on Credit Default Swaps and AIG (Where was this reporting two years ago?)

Wall-Street’s Shadow Market

The Bet that Blew Up Wall-Street

A Second Mortgage Disaster on the Horizon?

Where to Follow Ongoing Economic News

These sources have been much more reliable than the mainstream media, as I was following a few of these well before “The Credit Crisis” was a christened term.

• Mish Hedlock
• Michael Panzner
• Chris Martenson
• George Ure
• Automatic Earth
• Solari
• James Kunstler (Updated every Monday. Sometimes hilarious, sometimes depressing, always controversial, but usually right about Big Picture issues.)

The End

And once you feel like you’ve learned enough to be dangerous, you can read Michael Lewis’s homage to Wall-Street: The End. Michael Lewis is probably the best financial writer out there, and one of the better writers period — and this piece is mind-blowing.

Updated: 12/21/2008:

Not to be outdone, Niall Ferguson, author of The Ascent of Money, writes Wall-Street Lays Another Egg.

Also, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of The Black Swan, on PBS is worth the watch.

Not sure what to make of this, but the talking heads seem to be going insane on-air these days.

• Good analysis of the current state of affairs in Wall-Street banking. Unfortunately it affects us all. I recommend gold, silver, and Spam.
  

• Gardening is almost always a good choice. Here’s a great source for planning your garden.

• The future belongs to those who can renew more than consume. A steep challenge, I know! I enjoy frozen pizza.

• WALL-E is what would happen if we had unlimited energy.

• Go see The Dark Knight.
• Sappy, sentimental, yet addictive song: