I thought I'd write a couple of blogs about the financial crisis (no more "bailout," huh?) and try to explain where we are and how we got here.  It seemed to me that with enough research, I ought to be able to present, if not the whole tableau, at least some kind of understandable synopsis.

Might happen.  Might not.  The more I read, the more I realize how much I don't know.

In a very concrete way, here's where we are: A young woman working the checkout counter at New Seasons mentioned, in passing, that she (and other students) are having a hard time finding sources for student loans.

Municipalities from OHSU to the state of California are either paying record high rates for borrowed money  or can't borrow it at all. Many are postponing bond sales.

Car loans are reportedly hard to get.

Mortgage money? It's available. FHA has a 3% downpayment program. The "catch" is that borrowers need a good credit score and verifiable income (read: a job).  Other loans can be had with similar underwriting criteria and a down payment.

Interesting factoid: If you try to imagine every single thing everyone in every country in the world bought last year--every car, fighter jet, head of lettuce and box of laundry soap--and add it up, it will be several times LESS than the amount of bad debt out there.  Stunning.

The following link takes you to a "This American Life" story explaining the crisis.  It takes about an hour to listen to it all. I'm about halfway through, but it's so thorough, easy to understand and entertaining, I had to pass it on right away: How did we get here?