The Money Meltdown

Everything you need to know about the global money crisis of 2007-?.

1. Background

Behind the current panic.

Recommended: This American Life’s Alex Blumberg and NPR’s Adam Davidson joined forces to present the best introduction to the crisis. If you can’t listen to the audio, read the transcript, or if you can’t handle an hour-long show, listen to the abridged version.

The narrative: The Washington Post tells the engrossing story of the regulatory failures behind the crisis, including helpful graphics and key players.
The shorter version: 15 things you need to know about the panic.
The shortest version: Andrew Lombard gives a more succinct summary.
The updated version: Davidson and Blumberg revisit the crisis in a second This American Life episode.
The ongoing version: Davidson and Blumberg blog about the crisis.

Previous banking crises.

Recommended: Two International Monetary Fund economists give a dry but surprisingly readable comparison of the current banking crisis to 42 previous crises, including an overview of past government interventions and their effects. To skip to their conclusions about the present crisis, see pages 27 to 33.

The short version: The BBC walks through six previous crashes.
The shorter version: The Financial Times compares the proposed bailout to four previous bailouts in handy chart form.

2. Key Facts

A timeline of the crisis.

Recommended: Wikipedia probably has the best, most up-to-date timeline of the disaster’s progress through our economy.

The linky version: This timeline is a close second to Wikipedia for depth and scope.
A closer look: CNN focuses in on the high-drama period around the unveiling of Paulson’s bailout proposal.

What was in the bailout bill.

Recommended: McClatchy summarizes what went into the final bill passed by Congress to rescue the banking industry.

AGAINST THE BAILOUT: McClatchy summarizes the reasoning of economists who say the bailout isn’t needed.
FOR THE BAILOUT: Economist James Kenneth Galbraith says it won’t fix things, but it will get us through the year.
In pictures: How much is $700 billion?
Reactions: What experts think of the bill.

Bailout 2.0.

Recommended: European economics site VoxEU.org asked 18 leading economists from around the world what steps governments should take to stem the crisis. The collection of responses (pdf) includes a good degree of consensus that the government should recapitalize the banks and guarantee their debt, and the U.K. and U.S. governments have largely come around to that approach.

How the new plan works: CNBC provides a handy overview of the revised bailout.
Economists approve: The Wall Street Journal rounds up a dozen opinions from economists across the ideological spectrum, most of whom like the new plan (with quibbles).

The crisis around the world.

Recommended: The BBC offers an overview of responses to the crisis from countries around the globe.

The picture from Asia: The Christian Science Monitor explains why Asian banks are better-positioned than U.S. or European banks.

3. What's Next

Best- and worst-case scenarios.

Recommended: The BBC asks, What would Armageddon look like?”

From the center: Libertarian-ish economist Tyler Cowen walks through the best and worst outcomes.
From the right: Conservative blogger Ross Douthat envisions the best, worst and likeliest scenarios.

What the next President should do.

Recommended: The Brookings Institute provides a sort of opinionated to-do list, setting up the debate over how to fix the economy after the election.