Monday, October 20, 2008

Economic crisis as an Arctic expedition

 Hats off to Freakonomics for finding this: 


 freakonomics is an economics blog with a sense of humour and a nack for looking at the toher side of things, and is one of my favourite sites on the internet.

9 comments:

FBOMB said...

Great video, but now sadly out of date. As of today, Helicopter Henry has given up on buying up the unwanted equipment. The dangers to the climbers was too immediate for that, so now he’s instead dropping care packages with food and medical supplies.

Scott Drouin said...

Could you provide a source for that? I'm having difficulty determining what you are referring to.

FBOMB said...

What I actually wanted to say is thank you for the link to this video! I’ve been trying to understand the crisis and now I think I’m beginning to comprehend. The three main causes that I’ve been able to pick up on are:

(1) Lack of transparency.
(2) Conflict of interest of institutions rating investments.
(3) Excessive borrowing.

It seems like the philosophy of the markets has been: “If you find yourself in a hole, keep digging; you might find oil.”

Scott Drouin said...

If you're looking for other information, this American Life, a free podcast, did a show in regards to the economy that explores the very roots of the problem we find ourselves in, and is very intelligent. The podcast is no longer available for free download, but i'll be posting a link to the episode on the front page, where you can listen to it through your browser for free.

FBOMB said...

thanks scott drouin i will do that for sure good to meet you PWN ON

Scott Drouin said...

You're more then welcome. Please keep posting, and make sure you tell me if you think I'm misrepresenting anything, or if you believe I'm not properly covering a subject.

FBOMB said...

scott,randy,or mr loudon what do you think of the current economic crisis in the united states? do you think the federal bailout will have any effect on their problems

Scott Drouin said...

At the moment I am unsure, I think a government buyout would have been better, with the government nationalizing portions of the banks, thereby gaining control and forcing them to lend, instead of giving them money and hoping it will occur. I promise to post more about this topic in the next few days.

FBOMB said...

hmm valid point