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Please, Explain This Financial Mess to Me

Drowning in facts? These six sources will help you get a grip on the backstory—and even give you a chuckle or two.

AS THE FINANCIAL CRISIS UNFOLDED this fall, I, like so many, found myself uncharacteristically glued to financial cable channels and surfing the web for daily (er, hourly?) business news updates. It didn’t take much of this to start drowning in information. Piling on new facts was not making me smarter; I needed less information—and a lot more explanation. Here, then, some sources that I found useful for anyone searching to pierce the veil of TED spreads and LIBOR and credit swaps and sub-prime mortgages, so they can understand the bigger picture.Back to Article

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