Understanding the Economic Crisis #1

I still don't understand this economic crisis.

I don't know if it is a recession, depression, or combination of the two.

Being 30 affords me the luxury of not having lived through the Mideast Oil Embargo of the 70s, and I can just a barely remember Reaganomics. I remember the crack era though. I remember that some dudes was really gettin' it, while others - like my parents - held onto their jobs. I remember the tech bubble of the early 90s, but again it didn't really hit home; I was still in college and used to being relatively broke.

What I do know for a fact is that money is not flowing around me as smoothly as it once did. I know that many of the stores I used to see open have shuttered their doors. Quite a few people I know are out of work and my business is not generating the capital it used to, but I still don't understand the entire scope of this economic crisis.

Now that gas prices have gone down significantly, things don't seem that bad, but it's obvious that things are not right nationally. I hear about some artist facing foreclosure, but it's obvious that some artist are still caking. I know this Bernard Madoff dude stole like $50B, but I don't see people jumping out the window. It's clear that things are hemmed up, but there is still a disconnect. I see the rising jobless claim, but I still see tons of luxury cars on the streets. I don't see as much houses for sale as last year this time.

Part of the problem is that the scale of U.S. finance is a macroeconomic problem, while my struggles are microeconomic problems. Maybe I'm just naive. Maybe things are worst than we think. Maybe dudes aren't really poppin' that much champagne. Maybe there are so much things to keep us occupied, that we're losing focus. Maybe people are just frontin'. That must me it. Everybody is frontin'.

I just don't know.

With the situation showing no sign of easing up, I think we should all start paying a little more attention to this crisis on a personal and national level.

Here's a good place to start: