What Made the Crisis Spread So Deep? And What Should We Do About It?

Another Frightening Show About the Economy

Alex Blumberg and NPR's Adam Davidson—the two guys who reported our Giant Pool of Money episode—are back, in collaboration with the Planet Money podcast. They'll explain what happened this week, including what regulators could've done to prevent this financial crisis from happening in the first place.

If you don't have time to listen to this whole episode, listen to act 2:

Act Two. Out of the Hedges and Into the Woods.

One more confusing financial product that’s bringing down the global economy. And one of way to think about this product is this: If bad mortgages got the financial system sick, this next thing you’re about to hear about, helped spread the sickness into an epidemic. These are "credit default swaps." Alex explains.

And Act 4:

Act Four. What's Next?

Ira and Adam answer the question: Was the $700 billion bailout bill signed into law today a good idea or a bad one?