cognitive dissident

First, congratulations to economist Paul Krugman (also a NYT columnist, blogger, and author of--among other books--The Conscience of a Liberal) for winning a Nobel Prize "for his analysis of trade patterns and location of economic activity."

Arun Gupta's "How to Wreck the Economy" from Indypendent (h/t: AlterNet) is a great primer on the meltdown. Gupta explains the acronyms MBS, CDO, CDS, and SIV while illuminating "the biggest financial crime in world history." It's a good read.

The NYT graphic from "How This Bear Market Compares" does an excellent job putting the market in historical context (h/t: The Big Picture). I only wish the designer would have included the percentage drops, bear-market duration, and time-to-recovery along with the graph.