Two pieces bringing some causes of the recession into focus.
1. From This American Life, an award-winning show putting Keynesian theory and subprime mortgages into equal focus. The hour-long show itself is available to listen to here. A transcript is here. This show first aired in May of 2008 and has since led to a daily blog on NPR.org, Planet Money, with details of the financial crisis.
2. From a New Yorker issue earlier this month, this article by George Packer, “The Ponzi State.” In it he describes the overheated Floridian real estate culture of the last few years, and how everyone was speculating. Some earning $30K a year had a million dollars in homes that they were waiting to flip. Not as comprehensive or explicit as the This American Life piece, but it’s one of the best on-the-ground reporting pieces I’ve read about the mortgage crisis.