I work in Human Resources because my career options are limited. I don’t know anything about math, science, or money. If I had the ability to make big money on eTrade with my blackberry, you can be damn sure that I wouldn’t be organizing your team-building event.
With very little knowledge of the financial industry, I have been following
- the sub-prime meltdown,
- the crazy oil market,
- and the crash on Wall Street.
Larry Kudlow — who is a conservative, financial whizzbang — was on POTUS 08 on Monday afternoon. He shared his very bullish financial advice that was easy for me to understand.
- Hank Paulson is genius,
- the stock market will correct itself,
- and lower oil prices will help to correct the sub-prime mortgage meltdown because low oil = more money in the consumer’s pocket.
Whew. I feel better already. Larry said that the Fannie & Freddie crises were spurred by high oil prices. If we spend less money on gas, we can use the extra money to pay our debts & mortgages & stuff. The good news is that crude oil prices are falling on the market; however, the bad news is that the horrible weather in America is impacting our ability to turn crude oil into gasoline. Prices at the pump are still rising.
Crap!
Nevertheless, I’m investing in some blue eyeshadow and Duran Duran records (yes, records) because the 80s are back in style. When we try to cure our financial woes with supply-side economics, I get nostalgic and long for the days of jelly shoes, Iran-Contra, and ketchup being considered a vegetable.
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If you’re like me — a Human Resources professional who doesn’t understand much about finance unless you hear it from Cody Willard — you’ll need some basic information that explains the current market woes.
- The best information out there is on the Basics Section of USA Today and Gawker.
- If you work in HR, read those two sites so you can impress your boss at staff meetings.
- If you have better sites to recommend, please leave a comment.
Honestly, I’m way too busy reading investigative journalism in Us Weekly to bother with the financial crisis. I’ll be impressed when someone can explain the failure of Lehmen Brothers and the purchase of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America via Twitter in 140 characters or less.
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This means three things:
1. Wall Street workers have to look for new jobs.
2. Bank of America will own every mortgage company that exists since its the only stable bank (Thanks Dad!)
3. Larry Kudlow is okay, but no one beats Jim Cramer. Knowledge and personality goes a long way.
@Tracy I’m not sure I like Kudlow all that much, but I totally love Cramer when he’s on a manic spree. He is crazier than Chris Matthews.
I would say substitute CNN Money for Gawker and you have a decent start. If I can understand what the LHC does, realize which celebrity is having a baby and know how to throw a curveball, I think everyone should take the time to learn the basics of economics so that you can follow the news. I’m no financial whiz but I can read all of CNN Money (and WSJ when I subscribed) if something is going on.
@lance This has been my lowest post of the past few months. I wonder if it’s my style of writing or the content. I’d like to blame other people (in true HR form) for not being smart enough or interesting enough to think about the global financial crisis. Really, I know it’s me. I need to stop blogging about finance and keep blogging about Sarah Palin & my cats.
@Laurie Rant time.
I am willing to blame others. Look: economics isn’t sexy but the mighty dollar is fairly important in this country. Its influence is wide ranging and people should be engaging on this subject. I’ve brought up this issue with several people who’d rather spend time talking about Tina Fey’s impression of Palin on SNL or McCain inventing the Blackberry. I want to shake these people like maraca and say “Hey dummy, in the last week the US is now on the hook for hundreds of billions of dollars. Do you want to talk about it? Does this concern you?”
I dunno. It is why I’ve given up on discussing politics in general. Bumper sticker ideology and celeb worship/hatred is about all we can handle as a country.
@Lance I’d like to make a point of infusing the financial stuff with more lighthearted, celebrity stuff; however, I don’t want to dilute the importance of the AIG bailout and the Merrill Lynch purchase. I heard Dennis Kucinich speak at the DNC Convention and he kept saying, “WAKE UP, AMERICA. WAKE UP.”
Christ, I’m wincing because I’m suddenly aligned with a pro-alien congressman from Cleveland.
Freakonomics at NY Times also has a very nice summary of the meltdown:
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/18/diamond-and-kashyap-on-the-recent-financial-upheavals/?em