It's the Economy, Stupid

Not you! You're not stupid. The title of today's post is the catchphrase that Bill Clinton used to remind himself to STAY ON MESSAGE. (Remember when Democrats had a message, and worked together? The balanced budget of the 1990s seems so long ago...)

Anyway, how about a little story about a toxic asset? Hopefully, your investment portfolio does not include one of these little buggers.

From Planet Money, and This American Life. Check out the graphs on the Planet Money pages. You can look at a map to see where the mortgages contained in Toxie were located, and how they did by state.

A sad but catchy tune is, "Bet Against the American Dream....."

Bet Against The American Dream from Planet Money on Vimeo.

If you want to hear the story about Magnetar referenced in the song, here it is.