Did any of you listen to episode 355 of This American Life? Its a great explanation of the current subprime/credit/etc. problems in the financial industry.

I think it is fascinating to see how much the whole thing was short sighted, and driven by a desire for more (more of lots of things, money, esteem). I also think it is really interesting how much power moving numbers around in spreadsheets has on the economy (The Economy…what is that any way…its a big nebulous force…), and how those numbers can suddenly be attached to, and impact, real people.

For me the overarching question when it comes to my limited understanding of economics is how can this be used for good? So, in this case, what if all of that energy and time had been put into finding creative and sustainable ways for people to move into homeownership that they could really afford? There might have been less money going into the coffers, but at least it would have been for good.