This American (financial) Life

Betsy wrote this, but I strongly agree with her recommendation. Listening to this hour makes interpreting important articles like this possible for us layfolks:

The Fed said it was creating a new entity to buy three-month unsecured and asset-backed commercial paper directly from eligible companies. It hopes to have the program running soon.

The market for that kind of debt has all but shut down in the last week, with many major corporations unable to borrow for longer than a day at a time, as banks become more fearful of giving out cash. The volume of such debt totaled about $1.6 trillion as of Oct. 1, down 11 percent from three weeks earlier.

Anyway, here's Betsy's note:

This is one of the more cogent explanations I have found (although I think I’ll still need to listen to it a few times to really understand). See the front page at This American Life. Look for last week’s episode, “Another frightening show about the economy” (cvf note: here). As they say, “Regale dinner parties with your take on credit default swaps! Amaze your friends!” You can download it (for free, if you do it in the next couple days) or listen to the full episode for free on streaming audio. I also recommend their earlier show on “The Giant Pool of Money,” which explained the subprime mortgage market. If you scroll down the page to the 29 Sept post, there are also links to other shows that discuss the financial crisis, including a free daily podcast that interprets the most recent events and breaking news.

"Enjoy!" (Right.)