The Housing Crisis, explained by NPR

Many of you may have read my own little commentary on the housing crisis, addressed from the lowest - and most impactful - level: that of the consumer.

I subscribe to, among many things, This American Life, a podcast that gives you episodes of NPR's outstanding program of the same name. I've been a little behind on recent episodes, and today I listened to one from May 9. It may sound boring to a lot of you, but it's the best one-hour summary I have EVER heard on an economic topic. The episode breaks down - in striking and scary detail - exactly how this crisis occurred. I believe this should be a required lecture for all business students - scratch that - ALL students.

While I still believe that the burden comes down to the borrower in assessing whether or not they can afford a mortgage, I learned a lot from it - specifically, why sub-prime loans were suddenly approved in the early to mid-2000's.

Spend an hour listening to it and you'll think of your finances a lot differently.

Check it out here.