People like economics blogs — but why?
Still don’t get the credit crisis? Try the Antarctic expedition analogy. (Earlier)
The U.S. gives a lot of organs, dead or alive. (HT: Al Roth) (Earlier)
Sometimes you just want to smash something.
The face of the financial crisis.
Image taken from here.
and 
. You can also watch it on 
I wish you could show the faces of the everyday people at home when they open their electric bill that was just granted a rate hike. At the check out line when they thougth they chose wisely buying only the bare necessities and more generics than usual but didn’t accomplish much in the final price. The Mom the Dad who sits over a stack of bills with a calculator and checkbook and does not have enough to pay them all. We need to take a hard look at the role of the outrageous cost of fuel and its negative impact on our economy. I am afraid there will be many sad stories this winter of families who scrimped on heating oil. Jeff Wilson and his new book The Manhattan Project of 2009 should be a required read for every member of our government. WE need to wake up and smell the coffee!
Why are economics blogs popular?
My bet is that especially in the last 6 months, people are absolutely are rabid for information and they are looking everywhere for some one to validate their thoughts, or at least give them some direction and calm their fears.
This guys blog: http://www.greenfaucet.com/blogs/hanlons-pub
is a pretty good example of what seems to be very successful in the blogosphere– economics, mixed with politics and light humor.
It’s one of my favorites.
Re: the smashing-dinnerware place:
Let me get this straight. The assumption is that people who’ve lost money or jobs (or both) during the crisis, are spending money (that, presumably, they now have less of than they did before) to smash stuff?
Huh? Sorry if I don’t get it.
Rather than being a sign of the (tough) times, I have to wonder if, instead, this is a sign of where this place is located? Irrational fads and general craziness are California’s chief exports!
Another winner from Hamermesh:
“Academic currency, however, is measured by the number of publications in traditional refereed journals. Blogs seem unlikely to affect that content, says economist Daniel Hamermesh, “except to the extent that the time people spend writing the stuff reduces the quantity and quality of their research.” Hamermesh guest blogs for Freakonomics.”
(from the first link)
Another excellent explanation of the financial crisis (and the one that finally allowed me to understand it) used Pokemon cards as an analogy. Not sure how much use it’d be for most people, but it’s great for those of us who grew up in more recent times.
http://bygonebureau.com/2008/10/01/the-financial-crisis-as-explained-to-my-fourteen-year-old-sister/