Economics is not my strong suit, but it is my husband's, and some of his knowledge has rubbed off on me. So during this financial crisis I have understood enough of what was going on to have a semi intelligent conversation on the subject, but not well enough to explain it to anyone else. Much of the language is enough to make your eyes glaze over, like listening to a foreign film, where you don't have the benefit of the visual to help you figure out what is going on.

Since I have read many comments indicating a lack of understanding of the basic problem, and not understanding it well enough to shed light on it myself, I have been keeping my eye out for a simple tutorial on the problem, and have finally found one. It breaks the credit crisis down into its simplest components and explains it in terms that anyone can understand. It is a two-part video. 

Additionally there was a good special on CNBC which originally aired on February 7th that put some faces on the problem.  Interestingly enough good old Greenspan's fingerprints are all over this. That special will be replayed on March 1st. It is scheduled for 7pm here, but if you are interested in seeing it, you'll want to check your local listings...It is a 2 hour show, but well worth the time if you want to understand what happened.

***Major goof-up...The name of the special is House of Cards!!! Highly recommended...