Economic Headlines

In our most recent Generation Community newsletter, the November/December 2008 issue, we touched on the topic of our recent economic struggles. We asked the question "Are we getting the whole story?" when it comes to news reports on the economy. Specifically, how can we learn about the root causes of our issues when we only hear headlines, soundbites, and 30 second reports?

Thanks to the internet, we have the ability to look beyond the headlines and do our own research in a way never before possible. One way to get started on this topic is to go to Google and search these words:

"commercial paper" (remember to put quotes around multiple words if you want an exact match)
"Ted spread"
"credit default swaps"

If you enjoy listening to audio explanations, you might try searching for a "podcast" on topic. We found some helpful podcasts at This American Life, a Chicago Public Radio podcast. Particularly, their program on October 3, 2008 titled "Another Frightening Show about the Economy" went into simple, yet great detail about root causes of our financial struggles.

In addition to typing in a keyword at Google, or searching for topical podcasts, you can always go straight to the well established websites with names you've already heard of. For example, you can go to CNN.com and read stories on their huge money page. Generally the online articles will go into more detail than their televised counterparts.