It's All Greek to Me


It takes a certain mind to understand a lot of the complicated aspects of global finance. But even more difficult is being able to explain things like credit default swaps in language most people can understand and even do it with a bit of humor.

If you are not listening to NPR’s Planet Money podcast, you are missing out on your best opportunity to understand important aspects of our world and to be highly entertained.

One of their latest episodes (about 20-25 minutes each) featured a very simple premise: We want to understand the world of derivatives, so let’s buy one. Anyone who has been at least semi-conscious during the global financial meltdown has heard of derivatives, but they aren’t the easiest thing to wrap your head around.

So the team pooled $1,000 of their own money and found a broker who could help them buy a piece of one of the derivatives. They described the entire process of sifting through potential buys and have set up an interactive web page to track the progress of their investment. You can find it here on their site. Scroll to the bottom to find the original podcast.

You probably heard some news recently about the financial struggles of Greece and the reluctance of its European Union friends to want to bail them out. The crisis has put pressure on the countries using the euro and has brought questions of whether it is wise to continue having multiple nations united under a single currency.

The Planet Money team crafted an interesting discussion of Greece and the euro with comparisons to the uniting of American states under one currency, and the amazing logistical issues that would go with dumping the euro in Greece.

Enjoy that podcast here.

March 18, 2010 By cjhannas Uncategorized Share:

One thought on “It’s All Greek to Me

  1. lauraB says:

    derivatives are the subject of great debate (& confusion) in michael moore's "Capitalism: A Love Story) in case you want more info on them

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