I heard Paul Muolo, one of the authors of Chain of Blame: How Wall Street Caused the Mortgage and Credit Crisis, on Terry Gross' Fresh Air last week. Muolo and the co-author Mathew Padilla, are financial reporters and their book traces the cause and effect chain that led us to our current crisis of neighborhoods littered with foreclosed homes and banks unwilling to make subprime loans and even terminating second mortgages.
It seems we were living in a fantasy fueled by infantile dreams and mutual greed on the part of the lenders and the borrowers and now we're getting a big fat reality sandwich, or "correction," to use stock-market speak. There is a morality tale here and Chain of Blame is a good place to start looking at this tale in all its grotesque detail.
I'm a big fan of NPR's Fresh Air. But I listen mostly off the web. Checkout Kevin Phillips Bad Money book: http://www.amazon.com/Bad-Money-Reckless-Politics-Capitalism/dp/0670019070/ref=pd_sim_b_3
He once was a regular commentator on NPR's Morning Edition before they fired all their older news folks in favor of younger voices.
Posted by: Tom Welch | July 12, 2008 at 11:16 AM
I remember that happened about 5 years ago or so. I heard the KP interview. I miss him.
Posted by: jeffrey McMahon | July 12, 2008 at 12:31 PM
freah air is one of my favorites. heres a link for those who may enjoy freah air. its archives of all shows dating back to the 90's.http://www.npr.org/templates/calendar/index.php?prgId=13
Posted by: gerald johnson | July 12, 2008 at 03:40 PM
fresh air i mean! im a woeful typist
Posted by: gerald johnson | July 12, 2008 at 03:46 PM
In 1995, NPR demoted Bob Edwards and Linda Weirthiemer,. Bob Edwards is now with XMRadio and Linda is still with NPR.
NPR has a very long list of law suits it has settled from former reporters. Recently, NPR fired the CEO that done a great job managing their growth and going on the web.
Posted by: Tom Welch | July 13, 2008 at 10:39 AM
What's NPR's problem? Perhaps they don't know if they're a business or a public service so they tread both worlds and give mixed signals.
Posted by: jeffrey McMahon | July 13, 2008 at 10:51 AM
i stay away from npr news as i find it stilted. other than that i enjoy the programming. the variety of music shows is most gratifying. in fact im listening to the world cafe music show as i write. echos with john deliberto is also a favorite. all in all i appreciate what they do.
Posted by: gerald johnson | July 13, 2008 at 04:26 PM
For me their news is boring, overly earnest, and self-congratulatory in its "sensitivity."
Our music is good though--jazz, alternative, etc.
Posted by: jeffrey McMahon | July 13, 2008 at 04:32 PM