A Crash Course in economics

Anyone who knows me knows that I believe America is in deep trouble, on a variety of fronts; Politically, culturally, economically etc. And I firmly believe that most of these problems stem from the fact that We the People have allowed the politicians a free hand on too many levels. The servant has become the master so to speak.

Two factors are at the root of this: Apathy and Ignorance. Too many Americans don’t care about anything outside their own immediate sphere of existence, and too many Americans are ridiculously ignorant! You’ve seen the surveys that show everything from people who couldn't find Mexico on a map, to politicians who don’t know that America was meant to be a Republic.

And of all the subjects that deserve our attention, the one with probably the most impact on our lives is economics. The average American knows so little about economics that it’s unlikely they even balance their checkbook. And the result of that gross ignorance is demonstrable when a man like Barney Frank, who played a significant and personal role in the mortgage market meltdown, can stand up and point fingers of blame in every direction, and no crowd of citizens are storming his office armed with a barrel of hot tar and bags of feathers! (or a noose!)

Economics isn’t sexy or glamorous, but it’s vital that we pull our heads out of our collective ass and begin to pay attention from an informed point of view!

Here’s a great tool to help you do exactly that. This is a well written and well presented Crash Course in economics that you can either watch as a video or read as text; whichever suits you best (altough if you just read the test you'll miss a lot of very informative graphs and charts). I fervently hope, for the sake of this nation, that you take a little bit of time to train yourself. and become a more informed and hopefully a more interactive citizen.