Worth a Listen

A friend of mine sent this to me, and I actually spent the hour listening to it. It's fully worth the time to get some more info on what's going on with the financial crisis and some educational talk around it.

And my personal opinion? This is bad. I work in the financial industry, and I can see what's happening. I am watching what's going on behind the scenes where companies that have cash won't lend it because it's too risky to lend it to anyone, and companies that don't have it (be they large ones like Citi that had a hard time raising capital a year ago, God forbid they try now, or mom and pop companies) can't get it or can get it only at onerous rates that make it infeasible.

The bailout is not perfect. It won't be the magic elixir that fixes everything. But the wheels were not turning, and the Super Glue was almost set. Had the financial wheels stopped turning, well I can't picture the catastrophe that would be -- or rather, I'm afraid to. The bailout provides some WD-40. Will it keep things turning for now? Yes. Is it the best solution? Probably not, but it's the best we've got in our toolbox now.

Railing about the companies that made it happen and how we're rewarding them for their mistakes feels good but doesn't help. The horse is out of the barn, and if we don't do something, we're going to burn the barm to spite ourselves. If the company you work for can't get a loan to cover the operating cash it needs to, just as it's always done, what do you think is going to happen?

Anyway, just my thoughts above.... This NPR show is definitely worth listening to.